Thunder
Date: April 16, 1998
Location: Fargodome, Fargo, North Dakota
Commentators: Lee Marshall, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan

It’s the final show before Spring Stampede and by now the news has broken that Nitro lost in the ratings on Monday for the first time in nearly two years. It should be interesting to see if things change up at all tonight to try to right the ship. Other than that tonight is going to be the final push for the PPV, meaning more NWO whether anyone likes it or not. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the main event from Nitro with Bret Hart cleaning house to save Sting.

NWO video on Buff Bagwell, showing him looking in a mirror.

Buff Bagwell vs. Rick Steiner

Rick throws his collar around to get Vincent off the apron before scaring Buff to the floor as well. Buff armdrags him down and poses so Rick punches him in the face. An atomic drop and a clothesline put Buff on the floor as Lee wonders who brought Scott Steiner to the NWO. Didn’t we cover that like months ago? Back in and Buff pounds away at Rick’s head, which actually has an effect. Buff’s middle rope ax handle is caught in mid air and Rick throws him around a few times. Rick loads up the bulldog but here’s Scott Steiner to shove him off the top for the DQ.

Rating: D+. Nothing to see here with the whole match existing tos et up something else at Spring Stampede. They’ve been pushing this battle of the Steiners for months now but there’s no sign of the actual showdown coming. Then again why bother pursuing a match that could be a big deal and bring in some money when you can keep pushing Buff Bagwell?

Hogan is amused at Savage’s injuries and is ready to take the title back from Sting soon.

Here’s Nash with something to say. He’s tired of hearing Hogan talking about how amazing he is because Hogan is afraid. Nash should be champion right now and would be if not for Hogan and then Hart interfering in his title shots. Bret made a huge mistake by messing with Nash on Monday and Hart will be dealt with. Back to Hogan: if he doesn’t do what he’s supposed to do on Sunday, Nash will drive a stake through his heart. He’s ready for Giant and Piper and tonight he’s ready for Sting and Bret with Savage as his partner. Just hyping up the big tag matches here.

We get the same video on Goldberg from Nitro.

Goldberg vs. Barry Darsow

Goldberg vs. Saturn is official for Sunday. Barry tries to match power with Goldberg and is easily run over and thrown into the corner. Heenan: “This could be a very hair raising experience for Barry Darsow.” Darsow is bald if that clears anything up. Barry sends him over the top and out to the floor but Goldberg comes right back in with the spear. The Jackhammer makes it 73 in a row.

We get the same video on Page vs. Raven from Nitro.

Here’s JJ Dillon to say that the winner of Page vs. Raven has to defend the US Title against Goldberg on Monday night. I’m jumping the gun a bit here but that means that both of Goldberg’s title shots this year have been announced four days in advance. You would think he’d get more hype than that.

TV Title: Booker T vs. Rick Fuller

Booker fires off kicks and forearms to start, only to run into a powerslam from the much bigger Fuller. Fuller slams him down again but misses a charge into the corner and walks into a spinebuster. The ax kick and side kick set up the missile dropkick to retain Booker’s title. Squash for the most part.

Recap of Hogan vs. Nash, despite them not being opponents anytime soon.

Tony announces Scott Steiner/Buff Bagwell vs. Lex Luger/Rick Steiner at the PPV. Scott Steiner comes out to say he and Buff aren’t showing up because his parents don’t want to see him fight his brother.

Chris Benoit vs. Scott Norton

Benoit pulls Vincent to the floor for some chops before going in and being chopped down by Norton. A few elbow drops have Benoit in trouble and a slam puts him down again. Benoit comes back with some chops but Norton just punches him down with no selling at all. A splash in the corner crushes Benoit and a shoulder sends him all the way to the floor.

Benoit avoids a charge into the post but Norton is back inside first and still in control with a powerslam. Chris escapes a shoulder breaker and takes Norton down with two German suplexes. Norton charges into the post and gets caught in the Crossface, only to have Vincent come in for the DQ immediately.

Rating: D+. What’s the point in Benoit even being out there if Norton won’t sell a single bit of his offense? Norton went into the post twice, both off his own power, and still wouldn’t stay down. Also for the thousandth time or so, WHY CAN SCOTT NORTON NEVER LOSE A CLEAN FALL??? Benoit is going into a PPV title match but can only get a DQ win over Norton because…..I’m thinking Scott Norton has photos of Eric Bischoff smoking crack while wearing women’s lingerie and shoving an old lady down a flight of stairs.

Post match Booker comes in for the save but gets shoved down for his efforts.

Here’s Giant with Piper on his shoulders and something to say. Giant steps over the top rope with Piper still on his shoulders. That’s rather impressive. Piper rambles on and on as he is known to do. His odd line of this promo: “What’s the opposite of Big Sexy? Pee Wee Herman?” Piper gets off Giant’s shoulders and pretends he’s a tiger that has to be tamed. He spends the next minute and a half or so saying he and Giant will win. Piper: “We’ll bring the bat, you bring the balls.” Again, someone keep Piper away from live mics. Please?

Curt Hennig vs. Super Calo

Rude is on commentary as usual. Curt easily takes Calo down and hits a quick Hennig Necksnap for no cover. Calo avoids a charge in the corner and gets one off a quick missile dropkick. Curt will have none of that and stomps Calo down before ending him with the Hennigplex. Squash.

Cruiserweight Title: Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Chris Jericho

During the entrances, Tony rants about how WCW delivers the matches they promise, in reference to Austin vs. McMahon not happening. I would say I remember Ric Flair talking about that last week, but he never showed up as advertised. Chavo pounds away to start, only to get kicked in the ribs and suplexed down for two. Jericho charges into a boot in the corner and gets clotheslined down for two as well as Chavo stays in it. An atomic drop sets up a rollup for two more on Jericho but he trips Guerrero up and hooks an early Liontamer. Chavo crawls over to the ropes but Eddie slaps his hand away twice, forcing Chavo to tap out.

After the quick match, Iaukea comes out with the scale from last week to knock Jericho off of Chavo. They fight to the back, leaving Eddie and Chavo alone in the ring. Uncle Eddie calms Chavo down and says that if Chavo beats Jericho on Sunday, he’s free. Chavo is facing Ultimo Dragon on Sunday but at least there’s a story to the match now.

Here are Hogan, Bischoff and Disciple with something to say. After Eric sucks up to Hogan for awhile, he talks about realizing what he had when Hogan came to WCW in 1994. Hogan runs down Savage and Nash and understands why they’re both jealous of him. He brags about the 3 Ninjas movie and being on the Tonight Show before saying he should get the next world title shot because he’s just that awesome. Nothing much to see here and he didn’t even mention his opponents for Sunday.

Here’s JJ with something to say. First of all, Goldberg will receive his first major title shot this Monday on Nitro. This confirms one of two things: either the TV Title, which Goldberg had a shot at last year, isn’t a major title or WCW doesn’t remember matches that happened five months ago. Also, due to Savage’s injuries, there might have to be a replacement in the world title match. The options would be either DDP, Nash or Hogan. JJ says Savage can wrestle on Sunday if he has a doctor’s clearance, but tonight he just can’t be wearing a cast.

This brings out Savage to say that JJ should be outside watching for red and yellow Vipers that are running over people. JJ says there’s no concrete evidence as to who attacked Savage so he needs a doctor’s clearance and no cast on Savage’s arm. Savage says he’s getting the title shot on Sunday no matter what.

Giant vs. Bryan Adams

Nothing match as Giant shrugs off Adams’ offense (including Adams going up top and just falling off) and kicks him in the face, only to have Vincent run in to break up the chokeslam and draw the DQ.

Post match the B team comes in but gets destroyed as well.

Video on Raven.

Silver King vs. Perry Saturn

Saturn side steps a fast dropkick and hits a running elbow in the corner, only to get caught in a tornado DDT. Saturn avoids a charge in the corner and superplexes King down before the Rings of Saturn gets the submission.

Video on Diamond Dallas Page.

Page says to say he’s ready for Raven but thinking about fighting Goldberg gets him even more jacked up. Goldberg and his buddy Jack Hammer has been running through WCW and Page wants to know if Goldberg can be banged. He’s getting his belt back on Sunday, but the fans are oddly silent during this entire speech.

Sting/Bret Hart vs. Randy Savage/Kevin Nash

Tony goes off about how they’ll deliver what they promised no matter what. Savage has the cast on, despite JJ saying he couldn’t wear one tonight. Bret and Savage get things going but Nash comes in before any contact is made. Nash and Bret pound each other into the corner with Nash hammering Bret in the back to take over. There’s the foot choke in the corner but Nash charges into a boot in the opposite corner.

Bret clotheslines Nash down and fires off right hands before bringing in the world champion. Savage gets the tag and is put in the Scorpion about ten seconds later. Nash pulls Randy out to the floor for a long stall before it’s Bret vs. Nash again. Bret escapes Snake Eyes by shoving Kevin into the corner, only to be punched in the face for his efforts. There’s the side slam but Hart avoids the elbow, only to have Savage break up the Sharpshooter.

Nash puts on a sleeper of all things but Bret suplexes his way to freedom. A double tag brings in Savage and Sting but Nash breaks up the Stinger Splash as everything breaks down. Nash and Bret fight to the floor and the Stinger Splash hits Savage’s cast. Savage goes up for the elbow and waits forever until Hogan and Disciple run in for the DQ because why would a world title match need story development?

Rating: D. This was the usual lazy main event match from all parties involved. Savage being injured excuses his lack of effort but the other three guys just looked bored out there. To be fair though Bret has nothing to do, Sting is the lamest of all lame duck champions and Nash is Nash so why bother trying at all?

Post match Hogan goes after Savage’s bad arm but Nash makes the save to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. This is a strange one to grade as the show did a good job of building up to Spring Stampede, but Spring Stampede is one of the least interesting shows in a long time. Why they don’t just do Nash vs. Hogan is beyond me, but I’d guess neither guy was willing to do a job for whatever reason they always gave. The show had its moments but the NWO drags it down as usual.

Here’s Spring Stampede if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/09/07/spring-stampede-1998-2013-redo-here-lies-1997-we-hardly-knew-ye/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews, and pick up my new book of Complete 2001 Monday Night Raw Reviews at Amazon for just $4 at:

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for just $4 at:

Thunder
Date: April 9, 1998
Location: Leon County Civic Center, Tallahassee, Florida
Commentators: Lee Marshall, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan

We’re still rolling through NWO a-go-go here with Hogan, Savage and Nash in a three way war for control of the team. Sting is still an afterthought and the midcard guys are still stealing the show most of the time. You can see them starting to be pulled down into the downward spiral from here. Tonight’s big draw is a major announcement from Flair on his future in the sport. Let’s get to it.

We get the Savage parking lot video from Nitro.

Perry Saturn vs. Tokyo Magnum

Saturn takes him hard into the corner to start and slugs him down. A tiger suplex sends Magnum flying and Saturn keeps pounding away. Saturn kicks him in the head and puts on a quick Rings of Saturn, only to let Tokyo go and put the hold on again for the win. Total squash.

Saturn wants Goldberg so here’s the undefeated one. The Flock pulls Saturn to the floor so Goldberg beats up everyone else. Saturn and Hammer are fighting up the ramp. Raven is in the crowd and doesn’t seem to care.

Prince Iaukea vs. Yuji Nagata

Nagata easily takes him down and pounds away with forearms. They trade some quick belly to back suplexes and Nagata puts on a chinlock. Back up and Prince goes after the leg as the announcers talk about how awesome Nagata is. Nagata shrugs it off and kicks Prince’s leg down before working on the arm. Prince misses an enziguri and gets caught in a cross armbreaker as the match continues to drag.

Prince pops up with no sign of damage at all, dropkicking Yuji down for two. Yuji sends him to the apron where Prince sells the leg for a bit before coming back in with a Samoan Drop. The announcers aren’t even pretending to pay attention to the match anymore. Sonny Onoo interferes so Prince dives on him as well, only to have to escape the Nagata Lock. The northern lights suplex is enough for the pin by Iaukea.

Rating: D. Good grief these two are boring. I have no idea what the company saw in either of them other than maybe some of Nagata’s Japan work. Iaukea has been around for over a year now and is still the same uninteresting guy that he always was, yet he’s getting a title shot on PPV. Dull match.

Post match Jericho comes out and declares Iaukea too fat to challenge for the title. We could have spent the last six minutes listening to Jericho jokes but we had to sit through the match instead. Lucky us.

We get clips from weeks ago of Mortis trying to join the Flock but losing his match to Diamond Dallas Page. Random but still more interesting than what we’ve seen so far.

Here’s Raven with something to say. He talks about how Page was the hardest working man in wrestling….and a fan pulls him out of the ring. Ever the pro, Raven gets right back in the ring and talks, but his mic doesn’t work. He doesn’t realize the mic isn’t working but the camera zooms in enough to hear him talking about wanting Page to get Bischoff to hire him away from ECW. They finally swap out the mic and Raven says Page isn’t here to accept a challenge for Raven’s US Title. At Spring Stampede, Raven is going to kick out of the Diamond Cutter and win the title with the Even Flow.

Buff Bagwell hypes his match with Luger on Nitro. Somehow this takes almost three minutes.

Konnan vs. Chris Benoit

Benoit shoves Konnan away to start before firing off chops. Konnan is backed into the corner and chopped even more, only to have Vincent interfere, earning him chops of his own. Konnan gets in some cheap shots to take over but Benoit keeps chopping at Vincent. Finally Konnan takes Benoit down but Chris chops away even more.

Vincent interferes for the second time in a minute (how does the referee not notice that?) and gets kicked in the head, followed by Benoit sending Konnan to the floor. They chop it out on the floor before going back inside for a failed Crossface attempt. Konnan hooks a quick DDT for two but the 187 is countered into a German suplex for two. Benoit slips around him and throws on the Crossface for the submission.

Rating: C-. This was better than I expected and it was very nice to see Benoit getting to look dominant. One thing I’ve always wondered: why would the NWO keep paying Vincent? Do they really think he’s doing a good job? Come to think of it, has he ever done anything right in the ten years he’s been a bodyguard? Anyway, nice little match here with Benoit getting to show off.

Jim Duggan vs. Curt Hennig

Well at least it’s not Neidhart. Duggan gets caught with a knee lift to send him into the corner and there’s the Hennig necksnap for a quick two. Duggan fights up and pounds Hennig with the big lumbering right hands followed by a few clotheslines. The Three Point Clothesline connects but Rick Rude grabs Duggan’s arm and cuffs him to the ropes for a fast DQ.

The beatdown ensues until Davey Boy and Neidhart make the save.

Lex Luger vs. Glacier

Who thought this was a good idea? They should be tied to a chair and forced to watch this match over and over until dance craze sets in. Luger easily runs him over before hiptossing Glacier down, setting up the MUSCULAR POSE! Buff Bagwell is watching from the entrance, likely trying to pick up tips on what not to do as a wrestler. Glacier fires off kicks to the ribs and one to the head, sending Luger down. More kicks set up a kick off the top, only to have Luger punch him out of the air. The clotheslines set up the Rack for the submission. More squashification.

Kidman vs. Psychosis

This should be good. Kidman takes over with some forearms to the back to start but Psychosis slams the back of Kidman’s head into the mat for two. Psychosis sends him to the floor and hits a big dive over the top rope which almost missed badly. Back in and Kidman hits the sitout spinebuster but stops to scratch. A sunset flip gets two for Psychosis but Kidman comes back with a bulldog while climbing the corner.

Kidman loads up a superplex and here’s Chris Jericho of all people. Psychosis shoves Kidman off and hits a spinwheel kick but there’s no referee. A victory roll still gets no count for Psychosis as Jericho still has the referee. Psychosis loads up the guillotine legdrop but here’s La Parka with a weak chair shot to knock him to the mat. Kidman hits the Seven Year Itch for the pin.

Rating: C-. This didn’t have time to go anywhere and it could give Russo a run for his money with the overbooking, but Psychosis continues to look good. It’s nice to see him get a story, even one as minor as the Flock fighting for Lodi’s honor. Nice little match here but the fans didn’t care.

After a break Jericho is still in the ring with a bathroom scale. Jericho refuses to answer Schivaone’s questions until Tony refers to him as the Man of 1004 Holds. He tells Doug Dillinger (head of WCW security) to keep the fans away from him as he proves that Prince Mackamackey is over the 225lb Cruiserweight limit. Iaukea comes out and weighs 218, so Jericho claims improper calibration. Jericho blasts him in the head with the scale and puts him in the Liontamer. Jericho continues to be the most entertaining thing in WCW.

Scott Steiner vs. Disco Inferno

Steiner dominates to start and shoves Disco around with ease. Disco is choked against the ropes and an elbow drop gets two. Disco tries a comeback with a neckbreaker but Steiner suplexes him down faster than I can finish saying Disco is making a comeback. The Recliner ends this quick.

TV Title: Booker T. vs. Chris Jericho

Booker hits a quick clothesline after a few lockups go nowhere at all. A second clothesline gets two and Booker peppers him with forearms before clotheslining Jericho to the floor. Jericho tries to bail but gets pulled back in by the ponytail. Now that’s just not nice. Back in and Jericho scores with a quick hot shot before dropping Booker crotch first on the top.

The springboard dropkick puts Booker down and a suplex gets two via the arrogant cover. The Lionsault misses and Booker hits that snap spinebuster of his to get a breather. Booker hits the ax and side kicks but the missile dropkick takes out the referee. The guys fight a bit more until the referee gets up and DQ’s Jericho for apparently pulling him in front of the dropkick.

Rating: C. This didn’t have enough time to go anywhere but it’s nice to see Jericho doing something other than just cruiserweight stuff. Also, how nice is it to see a champion vs. champion match where neither guy gets pinned? It’s like they’re trying to keep the champions looking strong instead of having them lose half their matches.

Here’s Tony for the announcement from Flair….but Flair isn’t here due to “bad weather”, which translates to he’s watching his son wrestle in an amateur tournament. Instead here are Eric Bischoff and Scott Steiner to run Flair down, saying that it was Hogan who built WCW. Bischoff gives us a preview of Hogan’s new Three Ninjas movie which is as stupid looking as you would imagine it to be.

Steiner and Bischoff run Flair down so much that Arn Anderson comes out to defend his friend. Flair may not be a Hollywood actor or have arms like Scott Steiner, but he left part of himself in every arena around the country and he is wrestling. Bischoff calls Arn fat so here’s Lex Luger to defend Flair as well. Lex and Scott get into a brawl and Rick Steiner comes out to suplex Bischoff.

Rick Steiner vs. Kevin Nash

Nash has something to say before the match. He’s seen Hogan running his mouth out here about how things are all under control. Kevin finds it interesting that Hogan thinks everything is great when it’s going his way but loses his cool when he loses control. He had Sting beaten on Monday but Hogan had to stick his nose into Nash’s business. At Spring Stampede, they might be in trouble because Piper is the best switch hitter in the business. He’ll take care of Giant as well.

Rick pounds away to start and takes Nash down to the ground for more right hands. The NWO flunkies distract Rick (it’s not that hard of a job) and Nash takes over with a shot to the back of the head. There’s the foot choke in the corner but Nash charges into a boot to the jaw. A clothesline sets up the Steiner Bulldog but Konnan comes in for the DQ. Nothing match, as expected.

Post match the NWO beats Rick down and the Giant makes the save to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. As is almost always the case with WCW, when the younger guys get to showcase themselves, the shows are more entertaining. The stuff at the end with Nash and Bischoff didn’t do anything for either myself or the live crowd, but they were WAY into the Jericho vs. Booker match. The signs are on the wall for what the company should have done, but of course that wasn’t to be.

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Thunder
Date: March 26, 1998
Location: Patriot Center, Fairfax, Virginia
Commentators: Lee Marshall, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan

We’re getting closer to Spring Stampede and most of the card is pretty clear. That being said, the picture we’re getting isn’t all that pretty. The bat match announced on Monday is nothing special and it’s going to overshadow Sting vs. Savage which has the potential to be decent. The interesting question for tonight is will we get any followup on Goldberg’s attack on the NWO last week. Let’s get to it.

Here are Eddie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero Jr. to open the show. Chavo has to scratch Eddie’s back on the way to the ring. Eddie says Chavo has a TV Title shot tonight, but he hasn’t proven himself yet. Therefore, Eddie will be taking the title shot and Chavo gets this match.

Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Chris Benoit

Benoit immediately chops Chavo down to start and stomps him into the corner. We cut up the commentary desk where Rick Rude and Eric Bischoff take over. Now we go back to the ring with Chavo still chopping away. Some backbreakers put Chavo down as Bischoff compares WCW to Kenneth Starr, because wrestling fans want to hear about current political events when they watch wrestling. Chavo comes back with some shots to the ribs and a dropkick gets no cover. Benoit comes back with a knee to Chavo’s ribs and drapes Chavo over the top rope. Chavo sunsets flips him for two but walks into the Crossface for the submission.

Rating: D+. This didn’t have time to go anywhere but Benoit’s yo-yo push continues. He goes from a US Title shot to jobbing to Norton to drawing with Booker T to being a bishop (he’s too good to be a pawn) in the Guerrero feud. It’s almost like WCW isn’t paying attention to what they do with him and just throw him out there at random.

Here are Hogan and Bischoff in the ring. Bischoff complains about WCW having people like Piper out here to cause trouble and says it’s easy to understand why Hogan has so many disciples. Hogan insists that there are no rifts in the NWO despite any footage WCW may show. He and Nash are best friends for life and WCW is just putting them in matches in hopes that they’ll argue. They’ll win at the PPV, just like they did on Monday.

This brings out Nash who says that he knows someone is pulling the NWO’s strings but no one pulls his. Hogan may claim to lead the NWO but everyone knows the heart and soul of the NWO is the Wolfpack. If Hogan is in charge, why is Syxx out of a job and why is Hall never on live TV? Hogan says Syxx couldn’t cut the mustard but doesn’t know where Hall is. Hogan: “I thought you knew.” Hollywood blames Savage for the problems and says they can deal with them at the PPV. He would partner with Nash anytime but Nash says it would be his honor brother, which confuses Eric and Hogan.

La Parka vs. Prince Iaukea

No entrance for either guy for the sake of time. La Parka does his dance to start before charging into a boot in the corner. A spinwheel kick staggers Iaukea but he sends La Parka to the floor for a flip dive off the apron. Back in and an elbow to the face gets two on the Prince but he grabs a northern lights suplex for a pn on La Parka out of nowhere. This was nothing.

Here’s Lex Luger to say that he and Sting will accept Hogan and Nash’s open challenge for a tag match tonight. I didn’t exactly hear an open challenge but whatever gets us to tonight’s run-in palooza is fine.

Cruiserweight Title: Chris Jericho vs. Disco Inferno

The crowd LOUDLY tells Jericho that he sucks on the way to the ring. They trade headlocks to start until Disco takes him down with a clothesline. Disco stomps him down in the corner and hits a middle rope fist to the head for two. Jericho takes him down and kicks Disco in the ribs before getting two off a suplex. Disco runs into a boot in the corner but comes back with an atomic drop and a neckbreaker for two each. That’s it for Disco though as he gets caught in a butterfly backbreaker and the Liontamer retains the title. Short and not much to this one.

Jericho takes Disco’s headband for the trophy case.

Goldberg vs. Jerry Flynn

Tony does the ads for future shows and actually uses the term house shows. Goldberg asked for this match after Flynn gave him a test. Flynn fires off his kicks and takes Goldberg to the mat, only to be caught in a leg bar. A powerslam puts Jerry down but he grabs an armbar. Goldberg will have none of that and powerbombs him down before breaking out of a choke. They trade a few more holds and Flynn actually scores with some kicks. I don’t even get done typing that line before the spear and Jackhammer make Goldie 62-0.

Kidman vs. Psychosis

Psychosis is now a face apparently. This is a revenge match as Lodi was injured in his match on Monday so Kidman is out to hurt Psychosis in turn. Kidman jumps him from behind and sends Psychosis into the ropes for a very slow motion Tajiri handspring elbow minus the handspring or the elbow. Instead he rolled and hit the middle rope and didn’t do any elbowing but it’s the best I’ve got. Psychosis goes up top but gets shoved to the floor for a big dive from Kidman.

Back in and Kidman gets two off a sitout spinebuster before putting on a chinlock with a knee in the back. Psychosis counters a powerbomb and gets two off a clothesline but charges into an elbow in the corner. Kidman is dropkicked into the ropes and Psychosis gets two off the guillotine legdrop with Kidman still in the ropes. Psychosis gets crotched on the top and superplexed down for no cover. Instead here’s Sick Boy to miss a springboard dropkick and hit Kidman by mistake, allowing Psychosis to hit the full guillotine legdrop for the pin.

Rating: C-. Psychosis getting a little push is nice to see, but he was sloppy here. That’s odd to see as he was usually one of the better fliers in the company. Kidman was getting better every time he was out there but he still had a way to go. Also it’s nice to see some continuing stories in the lower card which is usually one random match after another. Decent stuff here too.

Here’s DDP to say he doesn’t want WCW’s help in getting the US Title back. He talks about being trained by Jake Roberts and is sick of Raven’s whining. Page is going to bang him soon.

British Bulldog/Jim Neidhart vs. Curt Hennig/Bryan Adams

It’s a brawl to start as Rude takes over on commentary from Marshall. We start with Smith vs. Adams as Davey ducks a big boot and trips Adams down for two. Off to Neidhart for some lame arm work and a slam before Hennig comes in with some shots to the back. A big shoulder runs Hennig over and it’s back to Davey who has to chase Hennig around the ring, allowing Bryan to get in a cheap shot.

Adams comes in legally and gets in some shots but Bulldog easily tags Neidhart back in. This is really dull so far. Neidhart is sent into the NWO corner and pounded down before walking into an Adams piledriver for two. A double clothesline gets two on Jim but he gets to his corner for the tag to Bulldog who cleans part of a house. Everything breaks down and they all go to the floor, brawling until the match juts ends in I think a double DQ.

Rating: D-. I know I said Benoit seemed to have no direction but it’s even truer with Bulldog and Smith. They’ve been thrown out there and are kind of fighting on Bret’s behalf against Hennig but they can’t be associated with him, meaning they can’t talk about him. The matches are really dull too, making these segments low points for the shows.

US Title: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Saturn

The war continues as Page still doesn’t have the belt itself. Saturn jumps Page as he comes in but gets caught in a sunset flip for two. A rollup gets the same for the champion but he walks into a t-bone suplex for two. Saturn hooks an abdominal stretch to work on Page’s bad ribs but Page quickly hip tosses out of it.

Now Page puts on an abdominal stretch of his own but Saturn counters into a northern lights suplex for two. We hit the chinlock as the announcers talk about the NWO. Page fights up and hits a quick belly to belly for two. Saturn hits a quick jawbreaker but gets crotched on top. Cue Raven with the belt on the stage so Page catches a diving Saturn in the Diamond Cutter and goes after Raven for the countout.

Rating: C+. The match didn’t last long but the Diamond Cutter at the end looked great. Saturn is very well rounded in the ring and there was a nice story going on with him being able to counter everything Page had but DDP having one big move to knock Saturn out. The lack of time hurt this one badly.

TV Title: Eddie Guerrero vs. Booker T

Before the bell, Booker asks Chavo why he’s giving up a title shot so easily. Eddie answers for his nephew and says this is family business. Booker says he’ll show Chavo how to deal with a bully but Eddie has some brass knuckles on his hand. He lays out Booker as the bell rings but only gets two. Chavo takes the knuckles off Eddie’s hand and throws them to him, drawing a quick DQ.

Eddie makes Chavo hit Booker with the knuckles and the stomping begins but Benoit comes out for the save. Tag match coming up it seems.

Rick Steiner vs. Scott Norton

A Buff distraction lets Norton get in a cheap shot for early control. Scott shoves him into the corner but walks into a belly to belly, allowing Rick to go after the leg. Back up and Norton no sells an elbow to the face before taking Steiner down. He stomps away but Rick bites his leg, only earning himself more stomping. Buff gets in some choking of his own but gets glared down by DiBiase.

Norton ducks his head and gets kicked in the face, allowing Rick to hit another belly to belly. A clothesline puts Norton on the floor but here’s Scott Steiner with a dog collar. They screw up the ending as Norton misses a shot with the collar and Rick picks it up. He swings but stops halfway through, allowing Norton to try a belly to back suplex. Now the collar to the head is enough to pin Norton.

Rating: D. Another boring match but at least Norton lost for a change. The ending here looked terrible as the referee was obviously looking at what was going on in addition to the bad timing of the collar shot. This was nothing to see, which is a running theme on tonight’s show.

Lex Luger/Sting vs. Hollywood Hogan/Kevin Nash

Nash is in street clothes. Hogan and Sting get things going with the champion knocking Hollywood down with ease. Sting shoves him down and flexes a bit so Hogan takes the bandana off. The champion blocks a ram into the buckle and pounds away in the corner. Off to Luger who gets caught by a thumb to the eye, allowing for the tag to Nash. Kevin runs Luger over and it’s back to Hogan for some choking. Hogan holds Luger for Nash but Lex avoids the big boot which hits Hogan instead. There’s the hot tag to Sting as everything breaks down. Nash takes the Stinger Splash but Savage runs in for the DQ.

Rating: D. Yep it was about three minutes long and ended in a run-in. As usual, this was all about the NWO with the world champion and Luger just filling in spots. Sting’s momentum is completely gone just a few months after he was the biggest star in WCW. But hey, at least we’re getting MORE Hogan right?

Post match Savage goes after Sting but Hogan goes after Savage for no apparent reason. Nash pulls Hogan off of Savage so they have a staredown but the rest of the NWO comes in for the big brawl. Sting and Luger manage to fight them off with relative ease and Hogan argues with Nash to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. There’s some decent wrestling in there but most of the matches were too short to mean anything. The main event sucked and was angle advancement, which is ok some of the time but when that’s all the main events are anymore it’s hard to care. Somehow this was a big improvement over last week’s show. At least there was some star power this week.

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Thunder
Date: March 19, 1998
Location: Hullman Center, Terra Haute, Indiana
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Lee Marshall, Bobby Heenan

We’re back on dry land for Thunder now and headed towards Spring Stampede. After both Uncensored and Nitro two things are clear: the NWO is fighting and no matter how sick of it we are, there’s no way we’re getting away from it. Other than that there’s a lot of good stuff going on in the midcard, but we have to get through all the NWO stuff to get there. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the end of Nitro.

The announcers talk for a LONG time, as in like two minutes straight. The only thing to come out of this is Sting vs. Savage for the title at Spring Stampede.

Cruiserweight Title: Chris Jericho vs. Super Calo

Jericho says he loves Terry Hutt Indiana. Calo jumps him from behind to start but Jericho easily punches him down to get a breather. A clothesline puts Jericho down for two and Calo hits an ax handle to the back to send him to the floor. Jericho is back in a few seconds later and hits a quick vertical suplex for two (arrogantly of course).

A slingshot splash gets two more on Calo and a spinwheel kick in the corner has Calo in even more trouble. We hit a quick chinlock but Super is quickly up and knocking Jericho out to the floor. There’s a big suicide dive which gets two back inside and a middle rope missile dropkick gets the same for Calo. Jericho ducks under a cross body and it’s the Liontamer for the submission.

Rating: D+. Jericho is awesome at this point but he needs someone better than Calo to get a good match. Calo was sluggish out there and didn’t look to be all that interested in the match. Also Jericho didn’t even steal that stupid hat from Calo for the trophy case so there isn’t much good out of this.

Kendall Windham vs. El Dandy

Seriously? Did the booker owe these guys a favor or something? The match actually starts during the break with Kendall pounding away. They head to the outside with Kendall in control but the crowd is looking away. Here’s Raven with the Flock and the US Title belt. Apparently he stole it last night on MTV and we’ll get a clip showing what happened later on. Dandy comes back with some cross bodies but gets bulldogged down for the pin in a short match.

Hennig and Rude come out to talk about Curt vs. Rick Steiner later tonight. Hogan has sent them on a mission to destroy Bret Hart and you don’t see him here anymore. The town is insulted and they talk about ruling wrestling for fifteen years. Not much to say here.

Perry Saturn vs. La Parka

La Parka comes out with the chair and wearing something that looks like an apron. In a smart move, Saturn clotheslines La Parka out of his boots during the dance to take over. A suplex gets two for Saturn and it’s off to a Fujiwara Armbar. Saturn fires off kicks in the corner but La Parka comes back with a kind of bulldog for two. The Skeleton guy gets no elevation on a leapfrog and nearly breaks Saturn’s neck in a cringe inducing botch.

An enziguri staggers Saturn and La Parka leverages him to the floor. Lodi goes to help Saturn up but La Parka dives onto both of them. Back in and a corkscrew dive takes Saturn down before the chair is brought in. Saturn dropkicks La Parka in the back, sending him face first into the chair. The Rings of Saturn go on and we’re done.

Rating: C-. Saturn nearly being crippled aside this wasn’t much to see. As is typically the case with WCW, they’re handed someone getting themselves over like La Parka and they do nothing with it. Saturn was his usual solid self here but it was just a step above a squash. Lodi continues to have the most heat of the entire Flock.

We get a clip of Page’s interview on MTV last night. Raven hijacks the feed on the monitor they’re watching and wants to know why he isn’t champion. Page says he banged him and gets some looks from the hosts. Raven’s video gets some static and he thinks it’s a conspiracy. “The Foo Fighters don’t get static!” He says he’s going to rip Page off and shows up on set with a stop sign to knock Page out. The Even Flow puts Page through a coffee table and Raven takes the belt.

Barry Darsow vs. Ray Traylor

It’s like a nightmare from WWF house shows past. Darsow hits a quick knee lift and falls backwards from the impact before getting punched down by Traylor. The slide under the rope into the uppercut puts Darsow down again but he avoids a splash. Barry wraps the arm around the post and stomps at the shoulder a bit. A belly to back suplex gets two but Darsow can’t hook an arm hold called Barely Legal. Ray comes back with a one armed slam and a Boss Man Slam for the pin.

Rating: D. To recap, we’ve had to sit through Kendall Windham and Barry Darsow matches tonight. I’m starting to understand the hatred for this show that so many fans have. As for the match there wasn’t much here but at least it was more competitive than I was expecting. Why they needed Barry Darsow here instead of say Vincent is beyond me.

Roddy Piper will be on Nitro to make a challenge. I think we have our topic for the rest of the show.

Yuji Nagata vs. Prince Iaukea

They trade arm holds to start until Nagata grabs a headscissors. Nagata wins a chop off and sends Prince to the apron, only to be caught by a springboard flip attack. Yuji fires off some kicks before cranking on the arm. A cross armbreaker has Prince in trouble but the announcers are still wondering what Piper’s announcement will be. Tony thinks it might be about the NWO. There’s a fresh idea.

Anyway Iaukea gets to the ropes but a double chop brings him right back down to the mat. Back to the arm followed by some lame ground and pound and more shots into the bad arm from Nagata. Another Prince comeback is stopped by a rake of the eyes and a great looking belly to back from Nagata. Prince comes back again with a dropkick, drawing Sonny Onoo to the apron. He accidentally kicks Yuji in the head, allowing Iaukea to hook a northern lights suplex for the pin.

Rating: D+. This was fine from a technical standpoint but could they have picked two less interesting guys? It was generic Polynesian guy vs. generic Japanese guy and it’s going to wind up being the longest match on the show tonight (5:20). We’re five matches into this show and a La Parka match is the only thing remotely decent. That can’t be a good sign.

We get some clips from Nash s. Giant on Sunday.

Brian Adams vs. Marty Jannetty

This sounds like a reject from a Survivor Series Showdown in 1990. Adams quickly blasts him to the floor before throwing him back inside with ease. Marty avoids a charge in the corner but is quickly caught in a bearhug for a few moments. Jannetty keeps trying to run the ropes but gets thrown around the ring with ease. A headbutt puts Marty down again but rolls away from a knee drop. Jannetty makes a quick comeback with an atomic drop and missile dropkick for two before hooking a lame sleeper. Adams shrugs him off and hits a very bad looking tilt-a-whirl powerslam for the pin.

Rating: D. Dang those connections must be strong for Adams. The guy just isn’t anything of note but he keeps getting TV time and wins like this one here. Scott Norton may be pushed way too strong but he’s a lot less generic than Adams. Nothing to see here as this show continues to drag along.

Video of Sting’s entrance from Nitro.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Psychosis

Mike Tenay has replaced Lee Marshall. Eddie grabs the arm to start and clotheslines him down. Psychosis comes back with a quick snapmare as things speed up, only to be stopped with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker from Guerrero. Eddie is taken down by a quick armdrag as the pace picks up again. Guerrero showboats too much though and gets dropkicked in the back, setting up the guillotine legdrop in the ropes.

Instead of covering though Psychosis kicks him to the floor and hits a Whisper in the Wind off the top. Psychosis slingshots back in with an elbow drop for two and a tilt-a-whirl slam looks to set up another Whisper but Eddie sidesteps him. Eddie shoves Psychosis off the top and lays him out with the frog splash for the pin.

Rating: C. After the string of bad matches tonight I’d take anything decent right now. These two were moving well out there and the high spots looked good. Eddie continues to be one of the top guys who never gets a title but that’s what you have to expect in WCW. Entertaining little match here.

Raven vs. Brad Armstrong

Raven has the US Title here with him and Tony makes sure to tell us that he is NOT the champion. Hammer and Reese come in before the bell and beat Armstrong down which is legal anyway as it’s Raven’s Rules. Raven says this is Armstrong’s second chance but Page doesn’t deserve one. Last night on MTV it was Matthew McConaughey, the Foo Fighters and Page. It should have been Raven as the star of that show, so he crushed Page’s head with a stop sign. Raven will grow stronger and Page will grow weaker. There’s the Even Flow to Armstrong and a bell so I guess this was a match.

Video on Bret Hart.

Scott Norton vs. Chris Benoit

Benoit fires off chops in the corner to start but Norton takes him into the other corner across the ring before clotheslining him down. Now it’s Norton with chops of his own to knock Benoit off his feet. It’s time for the generic power offense from Norton, such as forearms to the back, a headbutt and more clotheslines. A hard clothesline puts Benoit down and a powerslam gets two.

Norton hits something resembling a Samoan drop for two more as this is one sided so far. Back up and Benoit avoids a charge in the corner and takes Norton down with a German suplex before going up top for the Swan Dive. He hooks on the Crossface but Vincent gets on the apron, making Benoit break the hold after a LONG time. The distraction lets Norton pop up, not sell the hold at all, and lay out Benoit with the shoulder breaker for the pin.

Rating: D. SERIOUSLY? You take Benoit out of the hottest feud of the year so you can have SCOTT NORTON squash him in five minutes? Norton was in the Crossface for a good ten seconds and didn’t even have his arm raised, then he gets to pin Benoit clean after his finisher? What in the world does Norton have on the people that run this company? It makes even less sense as Norton never went anywhere in WCW, so was this match only there to bring Benoit down? It certainly seems that way.

Goldberg vs. Wayne Bloom

The place EXPLODES for Goldberg and you can actually seem them all on their feet. For the first time ever, we get a number for Goldberg’s wins. He’s 55-0 coming into this match which is higher than I expected. A full nelson has Bloom in early trouble and there’s a pumphandle slam for good measure. Bloom fires off some right hands but gets caught by the spear. There’s the Jackhammer to make it 56-0. This is one of Goldberg’s longer matches, going a full eighty seconds.

Saturn jumps the railing but just stares at Goldberg.

Rick Steiner vs. Curt Hennig

That’s not much of a main event. Rick easily runs Hennig over and hiptosses him down, sending Curt to the floor for a Rude conference. Rick will have none of that and pulls Curt back in by the hair. A quick powerslam looks to set up the Steiner Bulldog but Rude pulls Steiner’s leg and it’s thrown out after less than a minute and a half.

Steiner fights them off for as long as he can but the B-Tea comes in to help Curt and Rude. Ray Traylor comes out and is beaten down as well until GOLDBERG makes the save, blowing the roof off the place. A double spear takes out Hennig and Adams and there’s one for Norton as well. Goldberg walks out, leaving Steiner and Traylor to clean house. The announcers are THRILLED to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. This show SUCKED until the end with nothing to see and a lot of stupid matches. The Norton vs. Benoit match continues to make me shake my head but that’s life in WCW. Goldberg coming in was a breath of fresh air for this show and the crowd went nuts for him. Good ending to a horrible show.

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Thunder
Date: March 12, 1998
Location: Riverside Centroplex, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Lee Marshall, Bobby Heenan

It’s the final show before Uncensored and we’re limping into the pay per view. The show on Monday did very little to make me want to see Sunday’s show but hopefully tonight can pick things up a bit. I don’t remember anything being announced for tonight on Monday but I’m guessing it’ll focus on Hogan vs. Savage. Let’s get to it.

Here’s Giant to open the show. He wants Hogan and Nash but he wants to fight the entire NWO on his own tonight. Instead he gets Savage and Liz with Randy saying he likes the idea of Giant taking out Nash because it leaves Hogan all alone. Once Hogan is done, Savage wants his chance at the title. Cue Sting to say he’s the champion and he’ll defend the title tonight if Savage wants the shot. You know Macho isn’t turning that chance down.

Brad Armstrong vs. Raven

Raven offers to let Armstrong get out of the match before the beating begins. In 1980, Armstrong was rookie of the year and in 1981 he was half of the world tag team champions. Since then his career has fallen apart due to the Armstrong Curse. Raven understands Armstrong’s admiration for his father but thinks the bookers (his word) were jealous of Bob and are taking it out on Brad. He feels Brad’s pain and lays him out with the DDT. There’s the bell, Raven covers him for the pin and we’re done in about four seconds.

Here’s Chris Jericho with something to say. He’s on such a roll as of late and is feeling so good that he’s going to give Malenko a title shot tonight instead of waiting for Sunday. Jericho brags about his trophies such as Mysterio’s mask and his trophy tonight will be beating Dean with the Cloverleaf, which will then be named the Jericholeaf. Also, he knows 1004 holds. Oh it’s coming.

Jim Duggan vs. Kendall Windham

Duggan wins a quick slugout and scores with an atomic drop before they head outside. Kendall sends him into the post and barricade before heading back inside for a boot to the head. They slug it out again with Kendall slamming him down and putting on a chinlock, because THIS MATCH needs to keep going. Duggan fights up but walks into a clothesline, only to come back with a slam and the three point clothesline for the win. You know, for all those die hard Jim Duggan fans in 1998.

Scott Steiner vs. Johnny Grunge

Grunge brings a table but gets suckered into a right hand during a handshake. Johnny comes back with a hiptoss but walks into a belly to back suplex. Scott puts him in the Tree of Woe and pulls on the throat before going after the back. A bearhug makes Grunge scream but Johnny bites his way out of it.

Scott easily clotheslines him back down but runs into an elbow in the corner. Grunge gets a surprisingly close two off a neckbreaker but stops to look at his table from the apron. Johnny comes back by ramming Scott’s head into the buckle a few times but gets crotched coming back in. Scott knocks him through the table and puts the unconscious body in the Recliner for the win.

Rating: D. This wasn’t very good as you would expect. Steiner’s push as a heel continues to suck without the NWO there to make people care about him. It’s not helping him that Johnny Grunge is getting in offense on him and it takes a cheap shot for Scott to get the win. Another bad match here as Thunder devolves before my eyes.

Eddie Guerrero comes out and says he’ll win the TV Title on Sunday. However he’d rather talk about his nephew Chavo disgracing the Guerrero name. This brings out Chavo who wants to know why Eddie is on him all the time. Didn’t he just explain that? Anyway Chavo wants a match and Eddie agrees, but if Eddie wins then Chavo has to start listening to him. That’s fine, but if Chavo wins then Eddie has to start honoring the Guerrero name. The match is right now.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Chavo hits a quick clothesline to start and backdrops Eddie down. They’re moving very fast out there with Eddie taking over via some uppercuts before throwing Chavo to the apron. Chavo hangs on and Eddie charges into a headscissors to take him outside. A BIG plancha takes Eddie down and the fans love it. Back in and Chavo goes up top, only to be crotched on the ropes. Eddie loads up a superplex but Chavo counters into a tornado DDT for two. Uncle Eddie gets his foot on the ropes at two and stops Chavo with a low blow. The brainbuster sets up the frog splash for the pin. Too short to rate but this was good stuff.

Here are Bischoff and Hall to introduce Hogan. Bischoff is WAY too excited over Hogan’s arms. He calls the Giant the highest level of dumb: mega dumb. Hogan likes the idea of Giant vs. the entire NWO and they’re all wanting a piece of the big man. Hall, looking “under the weather” here, says Sting will have his hands full on Sunday and he’ll be watching the title match tonight. Hogan says the NWO will win tonight and on Sunday. No one had much to say here.

Konnan vs. Lizmark Jr.

Lizmark spins out of a quick snapmare attempt and they hit the mat for some technical stuff. Konnan gets bored and forearms Lizmark in the face before pulling on his pants a lot. Lizmark comes back with a shot to the ribs and a quick missile dropkick for a botched (Lizmark pulled up before Konnan kicked out or even moved at all) cover. Now the camera goes wide for some reason. It wasn’t that bad of a botch. Konnan rams him into the corner and gets a quick German suplex for two before finishing him with the 187 and the Tequila Sunrise. Another short match.

Post match Konnan goes for the mask but Juventud comes out for the save and takes the beating himself.

Here are Hennig and Rude with something to say. Rude talks about collecting a bounty from some people in Connecticut for taking out Bret Hart but now he’ll do it for free. Hennig admits that Bret is good, but there’s a big difference between good and great. Rude says they’ll make Bret sweat on Sunday.

Perry Saturn vs. Disco Inferno

Good night how many times did these two fight? Saturn takes him into the corner and hits some hard right hands to take over. A dropkick sends Disco to the outside but he decks Lodi instead of getting back inside. Back in and Inferno gets two on a sunset flip but gets thrown down with a pumphandle suplex.

A Falcon’s Arrow puts Disco down but Saturn jumps into a boot to the face for two. Another boot to the face with feet on the ropes gets two more but Saturn takes him down with a superkick. Disco reverses a whip into the corner into a spinebuster followed by a swinging neckbreaker for two. Not that it matters though as a head and arms suplex sets up the Rings of Saturn for the submission.

Rating: C. These two are at the point where they can have a decent match by familiarity alone. Disco didn’t look as good as he had recently but his hot streak couldn’t last forever. Saturn continues to be his odd but still great self. He’s another guy that had potential but was wasted once he got hot.

The Giant vs. NWO

It’s Hogan, Adams, Hennig, Hall, Norton, Konnan, Vincent and Steiner. Hall starts by throwing the toothpick and gets a headbutt and gorilla press slam as a result. Hennig comes in and tries to stick and move but gets thrown to the floor. Konnan comes in and gets powerbombed, meaning Giant is arrested to end the match. Nothing to see here.

Nash pops up as Giant is being led away. He throws coffee on Giant, causing the bigger man to break the chains and chase Nah off.

Cruiserweight Title: Dean Malenko vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho is in the Juvy mask and jumps Dean before the bell. He pounds on Dean in the corner and hits a delayed vertical for the arrogant cover minus the COME ON BABY! Dean comes back with some right hands and a leg lariat for two. A belly to back suplex sets up the Texas Cloverleaf for the submission in less than three minutes.

Dean keeps pounding away and takes off the mask….and it’s Lenny Lane. Jericho comes in from behind and hits Dean with the belt before knocking out Lane as well. Malenko is put in the Liontamer for good measure.

Lex Luger vs. Scott Norton

Norton gets in a cheap shot on the way in and knocks Luger to the floor. Luger is sent into the barricade and the side of the ring before Norton takes him back inside for a flying shoulder block. A clothesline puts Luger down for two but here’s the comeback with the forearms and atomic drops. He loads up the Rack but Scott Steiner comes in for the fast DQ.

Rick Steiner makes the save and the WCW guys stand tall.

WCW World Title: Sting vs. Randy Savage

Savage jumps him to start and they slug it out with Sting still in the trench coat. Sting hits a quick atomic drop and drops Savage across the top rope. There’s the Scorpion but Hall comes in for the quick DQ.

Hogan comes in as well but leaves a few seconds later to bring in the troops. The good guys fight off the goons and Sting calls for something. A cable comes down from the ceiling and they hook up to fly into the rafters to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. This was hit and miss all night long. The main matches combining to be about five minutes long didn’t help but we covered a lot of stuff for Sunday. It still comes off as a total filler pay per view but after all the big shows we’ve had lately they have to take a breather at some point. The NWO stuff was really dull though as it was like a teaser trailer instead of a full on preview for you movie people out there.

Here’s Uncensored if you’re interested:

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Thunder
Date: March 5, 1998
Location: Columbus Civic Center, Columbus, Ohio
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Lee Marshall

WCW is in an interesting little groove right now as they’re not taking their shows seriously at all other than the main event and it’s making things much easier to get through. We’re ten days from Uncensored and the show is shaping up pretty well which means the TV has been good lately. Tonight’s main event is Page defending the US Title against Raven, assuming we don’t get more NWO drama instead. Let’s get to it.

We open with a video of Randy Savage receiving the Harvard Lampoon’s Man of the Year award. It’s used as a promo for Hogan vs. Savage.

Here’s a lot of the NWO led by Hogan and Bischoff to get us going. Bischoff talks about how Savage doesn’t deserve the award because he isn’t a real man. A real man wouldn’t walk in Hollywood Hogan’s shadows all these years and Savage is the second most delusional man in the world. Hogan talks about having the NWO watching his back and taking care of Savage and Sting on Monday. Savage winning Man of the Year is a joke and if you want to know how much of a man Hollywood is, just look at Liz’s skinny legs. Uh….sure.

Anyway Hogan is going to need another opponent after the beating he gave Savage on Monday and if Savage is here tonight Hogan will beat him up again tonight. Brian Adams says everyone knows Hollywood is the real icon and Savage is scared of him. It would be an honor for Adams to take Hogan’s place against Savage tonight if he actually shows up. Hollywood is all cool with that and that’s that.

Bill Goldberg vs. Vincent

Heenan has assigned Tenay to find out how many matches Goldberg has won in a row. The spear and Jackhammer end this before I can finish typing that sentence.

We look at This Week in WCW Motorsports. I’ll leave you to figure out how pointless this is.

Prince Iaukea vs. Eddie Guerrero

Feeling out process to start with Prince snapmaring Eddie down, causing Guerrero to complain of a hair pull. Eddie tries to drop down but gets a headbutt in the back to send him to the floor. A dive over the top rope takes Eddie out but back inside, Prince has to put his springboard on hold because Eddie pulls the referee in his path. Eddie goes after the knee to take over and puts on a spinning toe hold. Iaukea rolls him up for a quick two and gets the same off a superkick. He loads up another springboard but Eddie dropkicks his leg out and the frog splash is good for the pin.

Rating: C. This was by far the most entertaining Prince Iaukea match I can remember seeing. Based on his track record though, I’m going to give Eddie about 97% of the credit for the match succeeding. This was an easy win for Guerrero to set up Guerrero’s title shot at the PPV and little more.

Juventud Guerrera vs. El Dandy

Dandy throws him down by the hair to start and fires off some kicks to the chest. The Flock arrives late as always. A pair of headscissors puts Dandy down and Juvy pounds away in the corner. Dandy is sent to the floor for a BIG Air Juvy dive to fire up the crowd. Guerrera can’t suplex him back in though and gets caught by a belly to back for two. Juvy comes right back with a quick DDT and counters what looked like a powerbomb attempt into a rollup. They speed things up a bit with some near falls each but Dandy goes up top, only to get slammed face first onto the mat. The 450 finishes this a few seconds later.

Rating: D+. Not bad here but Dandy never was anything more than a Bret Hart punchline. Juvy is gearing up for his showdown against Konnan which should be entertaining if they wrestle the kind of match they’re capable of having. The Air Juvy dive looked great here but there wasn’t much else to talk about.

Post match Konnan comes out to ramble on in broken Spanish and says Juvy has lost his identity. Juvy says he never surrenders, other than when he surrendered away his mask.

Here’s Randy Savage with something to say. He wants Hogan and Adams out here right now and gets his wish plus a bonus Easy E. Savage says the rest of the NWO wants to stab Hogan in the back the first chance they get. The NWO’s main goal is to get rid of Hogan because he’s like a horse with a broken leg. At Uncensored, Savage is going to send Hogan to the glue factory. Brian Adams is betting his career on Hulk Hogan, so Savage will raise the bet: after Savage takes care of Brian he wants Hogan TONIGHT. Hogan says Savage should be a comedian and he’ll be in Adams’ corner tonight.

Video on Steiner vs. Luger for Uncensored.

Chase Tatum vs. Scott Steiner

Chase is well built but you know what’s coming here: suplex, forearms to the back, whip into the steps, more pounding in the corner, butterfly powerbomb and the Recliner for the submission. Total squash.

Video on Nash vs. Giant including Giant’s powerbomb from Monday.

Curt Hennig vs. Jim Neidhart

You can see the dilemma of Neidhart at this point: he’s being used to put over the Bret vs. Hennig feud but that legal stipulation kept Neidhart and Bret from associating on TV. Hennig stalls on the apron to start, gets shoved into the corner, and stalls yet again. Back in and Neidhart runs him over before putting on a headlock.

Lee Marshall buries the Hart vs. Hennig feud, saying they sound like a couple of three year olds fighting on a playground. Curt bails to the floor for a chat with Rude before Neidhart pounds him down and puts on a chinlock. With Curt distracting the referee, Rude pulls out a 2×4 from under the ring and knocks Neidhart silly with it, setting up the HennigPlex for the pin.

Rating: F. So we have Marshall burying the feud, a stupid ending, and about a minute of “action” in a three and a half minute match. This was a disaster in just a few short minutes which is quite impressive. I’m guessing Curt was, ahem, under the weather for this one as he barely did anything at all.

Bulldog runs out for the save.

Raven comes to the ring to talk about labyrinths and corridors. He helped DDP back in the day but Page never thanked him. Raven spent three years in Barbed Wire City and was so scarred he no longer feels the pain. Tonight is Page’s Waterloo and when Raven wins the title, he isn’t defending it at Uncensored. The challengers will have to wait until his pain is gone.

Jericho talks about being loved by the fans and how they should put him on a pedestal for everything he’s done for them. He’s nailing this character to perfection.

Cruiserweight Title: Chris Jericho vs. Ciclope

Before the match, Jericho tells us all to Wang Chung tonight. Also he’s been counting and knows 1004 holds, meaning he’s better than Malenko. More on that in a few days. Jericho takes him into the corner to start and grabs the arm but Ciclope trips his leg. A kick to the ribs sets up a brainbuster from Ciclope and Jericho is sent to the floor. Ciclope tries a dive but Jericho casually sidesteps him and stomps away. Back in and Jericho counters a quick victory roll into the Liontamer for the submission. Not much to see here.

Jericho won’t let go of the hold until Malenko comes out for the save and puts Chris in the Cloverleaf.

Scott Norton vs. Renegade

I’ve sat through El Dandy and Prince Iaukea tonight and this is my reward. Norton shoves him into the corner and hits a LONG string of knees and forearms. As in he goes on for well over a minute doing nothing more than those two moves. Presumably out of boredom, here’s Giant to lay out both guys. Norton gets a Jackknife and Renegade is chokeslammed to the amusement of the crowd.

Giant is handcuffed but the cuffs don’t fit. Instead Doug Dillinger puts chains around Giant’s wrists.

US Title: Raven vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Raven insists on No DQ, which I thought was always the case for him. Page wants no referee, which is a great way to guarantee you keep the belt. He knocks Raven to the floor and hits a big plancha before sending Raven into the barricade. Raven comes back with a whip of his own and they head up to the stage. Benoit comes out and jumps both guys to make it a threeway fight. They fight in the aisle and then inside the ring with Benoit missing the Swan Dive on Raven. The 7’2 Reese debuts to distract Page and the Flock comes in for the double beatdown. Both guys get DDTs onto a piece of guardrail to end this non-match.

Randy Savage vs. Brian Adams

Hogan comes out with Adams so we’re guaranteed a run-in palooza to end the show. Before the match, Savage says it’s true that Liz managed the both of them, but Liz says Savage is clearly the real man between the two of them. Adams has to hold Hogan back but Savage says if Hogan wants to know who the real man is, ask Hogan’s wife. It’s a big brawl to start with Savage having to fight both guys.

Lee Marshall continues his brilliant commentary with this gem: “We’re going to find out who is the kahuna and who is the kahu-not.” Savage whips Hogan with the belt and gets in a shot on Adams as well. They head back in and Liz gets in a cheap shot on Adams. Savage saves her from Hogan but Disciple comes in for the DQ. This was a match?

The NWO destroys Savage and Sting makes the save to end the show (no belt of course).

Overall Rating: D. This didn’t do it for me. The matches were all either really short, really bad or not matches at all. Savage had some good lines, but the focus being entirely on Hogan vs. Savage and the NWO split is getting really tiresome. The world title was mentioned in a single throwaway line which led to another Hogan discussion. Also, did WCW really think we would care about Brian Adams this much? This was a bad show and one of the worst in the series so far.

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Thunder
Date: February 26, 1998
Location: Five Seasons Center, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Lee Marshall, Bobby Heenan

After a weak Nitro we’re here in Iowa to hopefully get things back on the right track. Sting is the world champion again but Hogan and the NWO destroyed him on Monday like he was any other guy. WCW is finally starting to unite against the NWO though with Flair, Hart, Luger, Sting and maybe even Savage coming together to fight back. Let’s get to it.

Dean Malenko/Booker T. vs. Chris Jericho/Eddie Guerrero

The fans immediately go off on Guerrero and it’s Booker elbowing Jericho down to start. A spinebuster puts him down again and we take an early break. Back with Guerrero missing the slingshot hilo and being backdropped out to the floor. Tony tells us that these four will be in singles title matches at the PPV with Dean challenging Jericho and Eddie challenging Booker. Jericho pulls Dean to the floor for a snap suplex and now the fans are all over the Canadian.

Eddie and Chris hit a double shoulder for two on Malenko as this crowd is very hot. Tony tells us that the over the top DQ rule has been abolished. I never liked that rule so good for it being gone. Jericho hooks an abdominal stretch but Dean quickly hiptosses out of it. Malenko goes for the tag but Eddie dropkicks him into a Liontamer attempt to break it up. Dean kicks Chris away and makes the hot tag so Booker can clean house.

Guerrero slows him down with a dropkick but Booker hits the side kick for two. Everything breaks down and Booker hits the ax kick on Eddie but Jericho makes the save. Eddie hits a brainbuster on Booker, waits for Dean to have Jericho in the Cloverleaf, and hits the frog splash on Booker for the pin.

Rating: C+. This wasn’t quite up to the level of the matches with Benoit instead of Booker but it was fine. The thing I want to focus on is Eddie waiting those few seconds to hit the frog splash. If he had done it immediately it would have looked stupid that Dean wouldn’t break up the hold. By waiting for Malenko to put on the Cloverleaf and turn his back to the cover, Eddie made the whole sequence much more realistic. I love little things like that.

Tenay brings out DDP for a chat. Page praises Benoit for giving him the best match of his career and says they respect each other. They also agree that Raven is a piece of garbage, which brings out Raven and the Flock. Raven wants his US Title shot and Page says anytime, so Raven picks next week.

Brad Armstrong vs. Fit Finlay

Finlay quickly takes him to the mat to work on the ankle for a bit. Back up and Brad grabs Finlay’s leg, only to get caught by an enziguri. After doing nothing of note on the floor we head back inside for a beating from Finlay with uppercuts and right hands. Armstrong grabs an arm but Finlay whips him into the corner for an easy escape. Finlay looks like he’s toying with Brad here. Finlay charges into a boot in the corner and gets caught by a middle rope crossbody for two. Brad gets two more off a belly to back suplex but Finlay gets bored of being beaten on and tombstones him for the pin.

Rating: D+. This was an odd pairing but they would actually five three times on this show before the end of the summer. I don’t know where they’re going with this Armstrong Curse idea but I’m surprised they’re giving Brad Armstrong of all people a continued story like this. It’s not a major story but Armstrong is one of the last people you would expect to get a story at all.

Davey Boy Smith vs. Dave Taylor

Bulldog hits a quick shoulder and a clothesline to send Taylor out to the floor. Back in and the crowd is already booing Taylor despite Bulldog not being the nicest guy in the world in his WCW run. Tony tells us (he’s a chatterbox tonight) that Mongo will be out for a few weeks because of his broken arm. A suplex gets two on Smith but he pops up, hits the real vertical suplex and powerslams Taylor down for the pin.

Tenay brings out Hennig to talk about his match with Bret at Uncensored. Mike talks about Bret turning the NWO down, which Hennig says makes Bret stupid. Hennig is the man Hogan picked to deal with Bret and actually uses the my dad beat up his dad line. He’s got Neidhart tonight but isn’t worried at all. I can’t say I blame him on that.

Goldberg vs. Rick Fuller

Fuller is a big guy with a decent look. The NWO music comes on for a few seconds during Fuller’s entrance in a production error. The place goes NUTS for Goldberg who is definitely a big deal now. Heenan wants to know how many matches Goldberg has won in a row. Tony: “All of them.” Goldberg takes him to the mat with ease and no sells a big boot before hitting the two moves for the pin. This was about a minute long.

The Flock comes to ringside.

Yuji Nagata vs. La Parka

Parka swings the chair and does the Karate Kid crane kick to start. Nagata will have none of this foolishness and kicks Parka in the leg and side to take over. A sidekick puts La Parka down but he kicks Nagata in the back of the head to stagger him. Nagata is out in the Tree of Woe for a running spin kick to send him to the floor.

The masked man brings the chair into the ring as a launchpad to jump to the top rope and dive down onto Nagata in a nice move. Yuji is sent into the chair (no DQ on that for some reason) and then back inside for a corkscrew dive from the top. Cue Disco Inferno to give Sonny Onoo the Chartbuster for no apparent reason, allowing Yuji to kick the chair into La Parka’s face and get the win via the Nagata Lock.

Rating: C-. It wasn’t dull but I’m not sure what was going on here. Wasn’t Disco fighting with La Parka as recently as the last PPV? The match was one of Nagata’s more interesting ones but that might have been due to La Parka showing off a lot. Also it would have been better for Nagata to pin him off the chair kick instead of a leg lock which hadn’t been set up at all but that’s nitpicking.

Hall comes out for the survey with the boys in black taking another one. He gets his shot at Sting in two weeks and is clearly the favorite. He’s been in the ring every night for two years and all Sting has is a cool entrance. Sting has to prove how good he is at Uncensored so bring it on. Nice and simple promo to build up the title match.

Buff Bagwell does Scott Steiner’s entrance ala Michael Buffer. Scott is now known as White Thunder which never got over as a nickname. Scott talks about having breakfast with Luger, Sting and Rick on Sunday morning but the next night Luger was challenging him to a fight. Steiner accepts but doesn’t get why Luger thinks he’s the Total Package. Luger went to college and is an educated man, but he didn’t go to Michigan. Michigan wanted Scott Steiner because he’s a better athlete, so Scott sings part of Michigan’s fight song. And they wonder why it took so long for him to get over.

Scott Steiner vs. Marty Jannetty

Steiner destroys him as Tony talks about Sting/Savage vs. Hogan/Hall on Monday. The announcers think it’s a trap and Sting would have to be crazy to agree to that match. Well Sting may be the dumbest man in the history of wrestling so it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s being trapped. The match is a total squash with Scott hitting a gorilla press, belly to belly and the top rope Frankensteiner for the pin in about 90 seconds.

Curt Hennig vs. Jim Neidhart

Neidhart easily shoves him across the ring and Hennig bails to the floor. He’s pulled back in by the hair (“OWWWWWWW!”) as Scott Steiner comes in to the announcers’ desk. He says the door is still open for Rick to join the team and it’s the best decision he’ll ever make. Neidhart puts on a bearhug but here are Vincent and Adams for the DQ.

Davey Boy makes the save for his brother in law.

Raven vs. Kevin Nash

Now that’s an interesting pairing. Before the match, Raven says this is going to be a battle royal with the rest of the Flock being the other participants. Raven sits down in the corner as the Flock charges at Nash (one at a time of course) and is easily elimination. Nash powerbombs Lodi twice to a big pop, sending Nash to prison and costing him $100,000. Raven wins by default.

US Title: Chris Benoit vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Page is defending. They trade wristlocks to start with Page taking him down in an armbar. Benoit reverses into a chinlock as we hear what sounds like a canned DDP chant. Page rolls out of the chinlock into a stalemate which turns into a fight. They lock up and fall out to the floor before going into the crowd. Page hits a hard right hand to knock Benoit back to ringside and gets two off a swinging neckbreaker.

Benoit goes after the big bandages on the ribs with a kick to the stomach and a front suplex onto the ropes to put Page down. Page is whipped hard into the corner and Benoit grabs him for a northern lights suplex but just drops him on the ribs for two. Benoit stomps him down in the corner but Page comes back with right hands. We’re on a wide shot now as it appears Page is busted open. Raven comes in for the DQ a few seconds later.

Rating: C. This didn’t have the time to go anywhere but it set up the main event next week a bit better. Three way feuds like this are almost always interesting because there are so many different ways they can go. Benoit is getting a solid rub out of this as he can hang with higher level talent, but a title win would be nice.

Benoit and Raven fight to the floor and Page dives on them to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a really light show and I mean that in a good way. We got some good wrestling and angle advancement but there wasn’t any heavy lifting to make the show hard to sit through. That’s a really nice thing to have as an alternative to the story heavy Nitro. Uncensored is looking good other than the main event, which could sum up almost any WCW PPV from this era.

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Thunder
Date: February 19, 1998
Location: Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center, Birmingham, Alabama
Commentators: Lee Marshall, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan

It’s the go home show for SuperBrawl and things are really taking shape around here. We have the NWO falling apart and Sting vs. Hogan on a collision course for the world title. The midcard is on fire as well with a three way feud for the TV Title between Martel, Saturn and Booker T and Page and Benoit feuding with each other over the US Title as well as with Raven and the Flock. Let’s get to it.

We open with a clip of the end of Nitro with WCW clearing the ring of the NWO.

Sting vs. Savage is the main event.

Earlier today we were about to hear from Chris Jericho but instead the NWO runs by and jumps Savage who was talking to Luger. Don’t they hate each other? Both guys are beaten down and Randy is dragged away while Luger is left on the curb.

Goldberg vs. Fit Finley

The announcers think Savage isn’t into the NWO at the moment. You can’t buy crack reporting like that. Finley jumps him with that metal shoulder pad of his but Goldberg kicks him in the chest and hits a gorilla press slam like Finley isn’t even there. The rolling leg lock takes Finley down again and the Irishman backs into the corner. Goldberg easily breaks a sleeper with something resembling a snapmare and it’s the spear and Jackhammer for another win. He has to be pushing 40 now.

Psychosis vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Feeling out process to start as the announcers talk about the Savage/Luger segment. Chavo hits a flying forearm to take over and avoids a hard charge, sending Psychosis into the post and out to the floor. Guerrero hits a big flip dive over the top to take him out again and pop the crowd.

Back in and Psychosis takes Chavo’s head off with a lariat before dropkicking Chavo to the floor. Psychosis dives into a dropkick to the chest and Chavo starts his comeback with chops and a springboard bulldog for two. A missile dropkick to the back puts Psychosis down but Guerrero charges into a knee, setting up the guillotine legdrop for the pin.

Rating: C-. Pretty basic cruiserweight match here with both guys looking fine. Psychosis wasn’t a guy who got the spotlight all that often but he could shine rather well when he had the chance. Chavo was rising up the card but was still several months away from reaching his potential. This was fine for a quick match.

Here are Hogan and Bischoff with something to say. Hogan says that Savage has seen the NWO light and is for life again, everything is cool once again. He just hopes that Savage doesn’t destroy Sting tonight because he wants a little piece of Sting at SuperBrawl. There won’t be any controversy on Sunday because Hogan will defeat Sting once and for all. He still wants Nick Patrick to be the referee and prays to God that it will happen.

Riggs vs. Booker T

Booker is debuting a new move tonight called the 110^th Street Slam. That’s likely the only good reporting Lee Marshall will do tonight. Riggs jumps Booker which is Tony’s cue to talk about Savage and Luger some more. Booker kicks Riggs in the face and hits a big spinebuster for no cover.

They head to the floor where Riggs is sent into the barricade and Lodi gets dropped with a clothesline. The distraction lets Riggs hit a plancha to take T out and we head back inside. A running knee to the chest takes Booker down again but Riggs misses a middle rope elbow. Booker hits his kicks….and gets the win with an ax kick, thereby making Marshall look like an idiot again.

Rating: D+. Not much to see here but it keeps Booker looking strong going into the title match on Sunday. Booker looks so smooth in the ring and is getting better every time he’s out there. Riggs wasn’t much to see but he was far better in this role than he was as the American Male.

Mike Teny tries to talk to Luger as his ribs are being taped but Mike gets run off. Tony and Heenan think Luger is hiding something.

Kidman vs. Juventud Guerrera

These two had a great match a few weeks ago so there’s good potential here. Kidman charges into two boots in the corner and Juvy hooks a headscissors to take over. Guerrera hits a top rope hurricanrana for two but his victory roll is countered into a wheelbarrow suplex to change control. Heenan wants Juvy to lose his mask on Sunday to see his ugly mug. Heenan the insensitive jerk is always great stuff. Juvy sends him to the floor but Lodi breaks up a dive attempt, only to be taken out by a missed Kidman dive. Guerrera escapes a German suplex and hits the Juvy Driver followed by the 450 for the pin.

Rating: C+. This was the cruiserweight version of Booker T vs. Riggs with the Flock member being the jobber in both instances. Juvy was one of the better cruiserweights around and Kidman was no slouch either so this was quite an action packed three minute match. The 450 was a great finisher with the high impact and the fans always went nuts for it.

Post match Jericho comes in to beat up Juvy and actually gets the mask off…..revealing another mask underneath. Smart man that Guerrera, who comes back with a missile dropkick to send Jericho running.

WCW/NASCAR stuff.

Outsiders vs. Mike Enos/Wayne Bloom

WCW wins the survey in a landslide. Nash says Giant needs to be at the PPV and does a shout out to Syxx about being some rubber thing. Hall pounds on Enos to start and hits a quick chokeslam to work in his Giant pose. Enos comes back with a powerslam for two and it’s off to Bloom but Nash gets in a cheap shot to take over. Nash comes in and destroys Wayne, decks the referee and powerbombs Bloom for a $50,000 fine and a DQ loss.

Nash is arrested again.

We see the Bret Hart attack from Nitro.

Here are Hennig, Brian Adams and Rick Rude with something to say. Rude makes fun of Bret’s catchphrase and says Hennig proved that wrong on Nitro. Hart is a quitter and Hennig is the best, but here are Neidhart and Bulldog to argue. Anvil yells a lot and we get a bell.

Jim Neidhart/British Bulldog vs. Curt Hennig/Brian Adams

This is a wild brawl and has no semblance of rules at all. Rude interferes early to give the NWO the advantage but Bulldog hits an atomic drop to send Hennig into the corner. Adams clotheslines Smith to the floor where Rude can send him into the steps. Anvil gets double teamed for a few moments and Rude throws in some choking as the referee throws the match out. It was entertaining while it lasted.

Back from a break and the fight is just now being broken up.

The Steiners say they’ll keep the titles on Sunday. Heenan yells at Tenay for interviewing them instead of finding out what’s going on with Savage and Luger.

Super Calo vs. La Parka

They shove each other around to start until Calo hits a quick backbreaker and a slam to send La Parka into the corner. La Parka misses a charge into the other corner but comes back with a clothesline to take over. Calo is put in the Tree of Woe for a spin kick to the chest but eventually gets a boot up to stop a charging skeleton man. Calo lifts him into a powerbomb position but sits him on the top for the ankle scissors back to the mat. La Parka rolls to the floor and gets caught by a dive as Disco Inferno comes out. He crotches Calo for no apparent reason before running across the ring. La Parka hits a corkscrew splash for the pin.

Rating: D. The ending was a mess and I have no idea why Disco was running across the ring after the interference or why he helped Calo. Either it was botched or it’s going to be explained later, but everyone seemed a bit confused and the match ended abruptly. Again, at least the crowd favorite is getting some featured time.

Cruiserweight Title: Chris Jericho vs. Dean Malenko

Jericho quotes Cheap Trick before the match (“I want you to want me”) before talking about how ugly Juventud Guerrera is, claiming he looks like Quasimodo. He might even let Juvy keep the mask after the match to save us from his ugliness. The champion refuses to take the belt off so Malenko attacks him in the corner. He whips Jericho across the ring and stomps away in the corner with the belt falling off in the process. A Jericho monkey flip is blocked and Dean goes to town on him even more with Jericho barely covering up.

Dean tries a suplex but gets countered into a reverse suplex followed by a regular suplex for two. After a quick chinlock, Jericho clotheslines Dean down for the arrogant cover. The fans get on Jericho and he’s nearly hopping mad in shock. Jericho fires off chops in the corner and hooks a backbreaker, bending Dean’s back over his knee for a few seconds. The Lionsault misses and Dean sends him out to the floor.

Back in and Malenko fires off forearms to the head before going for the Cloverleaf but Jericho is right next to the ropes. A rollup gets two for Dean and he loads up the tiger bomb, only to have Jericho backdrop him out. The Liontamer goes on and Malenko taps out in a completely clean submission.

Rating: C+. This was your usual good match between these two and it was interesting to see Jericho get the clean win. The overall story is rather interesting as Malenko would seem to be the big fish for Jericho but the PPV match is against Juventud Guerrera instead of Dean. Still though, nice match here as you would expect from these two.

Chris Benoit/Diamond Dallas Page vs. Perry Saturn/Raven

Raven starts with Page but it’s off to Saturn before any contact is made. Page takes him down with a quick belly to belly as everything breaks down with Benoit and Page clearing the ring. We settle down with Benoit clotheslining Raven down but walking into a superkick from Saturn as we take a break. Back with Saturn ramming forearms into Benoit’s head before getting two off an overhead belly to belly.

Benoit counters a suplex into the Crossface but Raven makes a quick save. The hot tag brings in Page who comes in off the top with a clothesline to Saturn. Page cleans house but Riggs hits him in the ribs with a chair to break up the Diamond Cutter. Saturn can only get two so he brings in Raven who gets two more off a clothesline. Saturn comes back in with a springboard legdrop and puts on a front facelock.

Kidman gets on the apron so the referee misses the tag to Benoit and Raven comes in to stomp on the bad ribs even more. Raven brings in a chair and hits the drop toehold into the chair but Saturn’s top rope moonsault misses Page completely. Now the hot tag brings in Benoit who punches the chair into Saturn’s face. A snap suplex onto the chair gets two on Raven and it’s time for Rolling Germans on Saturn. Everything breaks down and Benoit is sent into Raven. Saturn kicks Page low but Benoit’s swan dive breaks up the Rings of Saturn on Page. The Diamond Cutter takes out Raven and Benoit Crossfaces Saturn for the win.

Rating: B. This was short but they all looked great out there with Benoit being a highlight. It’s also a great example of how weapons can be used to make a match better. This match had a chair involved but the focus was on the action instead of the weapons. The chair enhanced the match and made things all the more entertaining.

It’s time for Savage vs. Sting but the NWO carries out an unconscious Savage who is covered in spraypaint and wearing a Sting mask. Hogan says Savage is NWO for life and since Hogan wants all of Sting on Sunday, Savage doesn’t get to face him tonight. Hollywood knows Sting isn’t coming out here tonight and you know what that means. Sting runs out and fights off the NWO but they finally get the better of him. Luger comes out to even the odds a bit and stand over the fallen Savage to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This is probably the best show they’ve had in the series so far with good action and a solid build towards Sunday. The main event was great and we have a genuine mystery as to the Savage/Luger relationship heading into their match on Sunday. WCW is rolling right now and things should be capped off by Sting winning the world title on Sunday and sending the NWO into their fatal tailspin.

Here’s SuperBrawl if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/07/13/superbrawl-1998-redo-a-tale-of-two-wcws/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my book on the History of Starrcade from Amazon for just $4 at:

Thunder
Date: February 12, 1998
Location: Myriad Convention Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Lee Marshall, Bobby Heenan

We’re closing in on SuperBrawl and things are getting very interesting in WCW. Hogan and the NWO have basically thrown Savage out but Randy still wants to fight. The NWO also got a rare jump on Sting with the help of a net dropping from the ceiling. As for tonight Ric Flair is back and he’s facing one of his most famous rivals in Lex Luger. Let’s get to it.

Here are Hogan and Bischoff to open the show. Bischoff says it’s time to get serious because things are getting out of control. The NWO is declaring war on anyone associated with WCW. They’re going to start in alphabetical order and go from Anyone associated with WCW, from Ted Turner to the guys to mow the lawn at Turner headquarters. Hogan says even the fans are fair game, but let’s get to the B’s (were any A’s mentioned?). The number one B on Hogan’s list is Bret Hart, who is to blame for Hogan not holding the belt. He doesn’t know where, but Hogan is going to beat up Bret Hart somewhere.

On a lighter note, Hogan wants to talk to Randy Savage face to face right now. Macho comes out and Hogan says he knows when he’s right but he’s wrong in this whole thing. It’s time to look Savage eye to eye and let everyone know that an apology is necessary. Before we get to that though, this coming Monday it’s going to be Hogan/Savage vs. Luger/Sting. Hogan says Savage should thank Bischoff for the match but now it’s time for the apology. However it’s Savage who needs to apologize and that’s exactly what he does, right before decking Hogan and Bischoff with right hands.

The announcers are thrilled.

We talk about WCW Motorsports for a few moments.

Kidman vs. Prince Iaukea

Louie Spicolli has chased Lee Marshall off commentary. Kidman and Lodi taunt Iaukea into a chase, allowing Kidman to get in a shot as they get back inside. The Prince snapmares Kidman to the floor as Louie talks about eating pizza with Larry Zbyszko. Kidman dropkicks Iaukea into the apron but runs into a foot in the corner back inside. We cut to the back to see Raven sending Riggs off to get Van Hammer. Mortis comes up to Raven, apparently wanting to join the Flock. Raven asks why Mortis dresses in these clown costumes and says if he wants to be in the Flock, Mortis has to be himself. Oh and beat DDP as well.

Back in the ring Iaukea breaks out of a chinlock but gets taken down by a jawbreaker. A superkick doesn’t drop Kidman so Prince fires off some chops. Kidman clotheslines him down and goes up but dives into a belly to belly suplex for two. A guillotine legdrop misses and Kidman hits a quick Shooting Star Press for the pin.

Rating: D+. Based on what we saw this wasn’t much. Kidman was talented but he needed someone better than Prince Iaukea to have a good match. The Raven thing stopped the match in its tracks but that was a common idea for WCW: make it look like anything could happen at anytime. There is something to be said about that idea instead of having segments happen right after a match ends.

Meng vs. Hugh Morrus

Hugh jumps Meng before the bell and pounds on him in the corner but a splash has no effect. Meng comes back with chops to the chest and punches to the ribs followed by some choking on the ropes. A top rope splash gets two for Meng as Louie asks if Heenan used to manage him which shocks the Brain. Morrus comes back with a spinwheel kick and loads up No Laughing Matter, but Jimmy Hart rolls Meng out of the way. Tony informs us that we’ll have the Steiners vs. Outsiders again at SuperBrawl along with Louie vs. Zbyszko. Meng kicks Morrus in the face and the Deathgrip ends this pretty quickly.

Post match Barbarian comes down to break up the hold but gets put in the Deathgrip as well.

US Title: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Mortis

Vandenberg shouts that he owns Mortis on the way to the ring. Mortis gets caught in a quick tilt-a-whirl side slam but bails to the corner to avoid the Diamond Cutter. Page misses a charge into the post and Mortis takes over, allowing Vandenberg to choke in the corner. The champ pops up and pounds away on Mortis, only to get kicked in the face and hits with a neckbreaker out of the corner for two. We hit the chinlock as Tony announces Page vs. Benoit II at SuperBrawl. Page suplexes his way to freedom and hits a discus lariat followed by a running Diamond Cutter to retain.

Rating: C-. Just a simple title defense here with Page hitting another version of the Diamond Cutter to fire up the crowd. Mortis’ offense continues to change almost on a weekly basis with new moves coming out all the time. I miss midcard champions having matches against some random opponent like this. It doesn’t hurt Mortis to lose because he’s in over his head, so why not do matches like this more often?

Post match the Flock minus Raven comes out and carries Mortis from the ring ala Riggs when he joined the team. Raven appears at the entrance and DDTs Mortis on the ramp.

We recap British Bulldog vs. Steve McMichael. I keep forgetting this feud is happening.

Steve McMichael vs. Jim Neidhart

Neidhart shoulder blocks him down to start and a forearm smash sends Mongo to the floor. Mongo is sent into the steps but comes back with a three point shoulder block inside to take over. McMichael goes to the floor and picks up the steps, but the Bulldog runs in for the save and the DQ win for Mongo.

After the break we get a video of them brawling through the commercial.

Chris Adams vs. Buff Bagwell

Adams hits two quick slams to start but walks into a backdrop so Buff can pose. They shove and slap each other a few times until Chris takes over with some clotheslines. Adams misses a charge and clotheslines himself on the ropes to give Bagwell control. Buff gets two off a neckbreaker but a splash hits knees. Adams makes a comeback with basic stuff followed by a terrible looking piledriver for two. Vincent gets superkicked down but the distraction lets Bagwell drill Adams from behind and finish him with the Blockbuster.

Rating: D. This really didn’t work. Adams was trying but the lack of chemistry crippled any chance they had. He was 43 years old at this point and long past his best days but he could still do basic stuff well enough. Bagwell never was much in the ring but the Blockbuster looked as good as ever.

Video on Juventud Guerrera and how important his mask is to him.

Cruiserweight Title: Chris Jericho vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Jericho has to be threatened with a DQ to take the belt off. Chavo chops him down but Jericho hits a running forearm to knock Chavo outside. A suplex back in allows Jericho to pose for the crowd, only to be SHOCKED by the booing. Jericho hits the butterfly backbreaker for the arrogant cover, only to miss a charge in the corner a few seconds later. He jumps over Chavo in the corner but gets caught by a back elbow to the face. Chavo’s tornado DDT is easily countered into the Liontamer for the submission to retain Jericho’s title.

Jericho won’t let go of the hold so here’s Juvy for the save. Chris goes for the mask but Juvy knocks him to the floor, sending the champion running away.

British Bulldog vs. Sick Boy

What an odd pairing. Eric Bischoff kicks Lee Marshall out of commentary and wants to know who is behind the conspiracy against the NWO, namely because They Live (a Roddy Piper movie) is playing right after Thunder. Bulldog hits a powerslam (not the powerslam) sets up a delayed vertical suplex but Sick Boy hits a springboard back elbow to take over. Sick Boy pounds away and Bischoff storms off. We hit the chinlock as Tony says They Live as many times as he can. Bulldog avoids a charge in the corner and catches Sick Boy in the powerslam for the pin. This was a commercial for the movie, not the match.

Post match Mongo hits the ring to attack Bulldog again.

Chris Benoit vs. Raven

Raven’s Rules of course.  Raven jumps Benoit on the way to the ring and sends him head first into the steps. They head inside with a chair for the drop toehold but Raven is sent twice into the chair wedged between the top and middle rope. Benoit stomps a mudhole in the corner but Sick Boy pulls Raven out of the way, sending Chris into the chair. Benoit comes right back with rolling Germans but Kidman comes in for the save via a springboard…..right into the Crossface for a tap out, which is good for the submission win? I want to see a copy of Raven’s rules.

Rating: C. This was intense while it lasted but they needed more time to make the match work. The ending didn’t make a ton of sense but then again neither did the Flock in general. Raven didn’t wrestle often in WCW but when he did it was usually something good if not great.

The Flock comes in for the post match beatdown but DDP comes in through the crowd to make the save. He finally gets rid of Saturn to break up the Rings of Saturn. Benoit insists he didn’t need Page’s help but Page disagrees.

Glacier vs. Goldberg

Glacier’s entrance nearly takes as long as the match. Goldberg does a standing backflip to avoid a leg sweep, spear and Jackhammer make Goldberg 30something-0.

Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger

It’s almost strange for this to not be for the world title. Luger starts with a gorilla press and Flair begs off into the corner, only to come out with the poke to the eye. Lex shoves him across the ring and flexes before slamming Flair off the top rope. Flair rolls to the apron and snaps Luger’s throat across the top rope followed by a low blow. The chops have no effect on Luger so he comes back with a clothesline and a superplex to put Flair down. Luger loads up the Rack but the referee goes down, allowing Flair to hit a chop block to set up the Figure Four. Luger turns it over but Savage runs in for the DQ.

Rating: C. This was the abbreviated paint by numbers version of Luger vs. Flair, which still makes it more entertaining than most matches you’ll find. At this point these two could have a decent match just on muscle memory alone. Savage running in makes sense given how insane he’s been lately, plus it keeps either guy from having to job here.

Flair tries to save Luger but Hogan comes in to take Savage out. The NWO beats down everyone in sight but Sting runs in to clear the NWO out of the ring to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. The show did a good job of setting up the PPV, but the focus was on the main event stuff instead of the midcard like Thunder has been focusing on so far. The Raven vs. Benoit vs. Page stuff is interesting and the matches should be very fun. There’s also the Cruiserweight Title stuff with Jericho being amazing at this point, so WCW continues to have a bright future. Good show here but nothing memorable.

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Thunder
Date: February 5, 1998
Location: Beaumont Civic Center, Beaumont, Texas
Attendance: 4,900
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Lee Marshall

Tonight the main event is the kind of match that Thunder needs to focus on: the US Title match between Benoit and Diamond Dallas Page with Benoit FINALLY getting the recognition he deserves. Other than that we have the NWO in shambles with Savage and Hogan on the verge of coming to blows. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the Steiners arguing on Monday.

Hugh Morrus vs. La Parka

Morrus slugs him down but gets caught by a dropkick followed by the LA PARKA DANCE! The fans are into it but Morrus comes back with a hard clothesline to take over. Hugh charges into a pair of boots in the corner but La Parka runs into a powerslam for two. Morrus chops him down in the corner and hits a quick splash but La Parka comes back with a spin kick Not that it matters as Morrus elbows him down and hits No Laughing Matter to complete the squash.

Post match La Parka hits Morrus with the chair and does the dance on top of it. So why squash him?

Video on Goldberg’s dominance.

Jim Powers vs. Bill Goldberg

Goldberg takes him down with something like an STO followed by a quickly broken leg lock. Powers’ knee lift is no sold and it’s the spear and Jackhammer for the win.

Juventud Guerrera vs. Kidman

Juvy takes over with a quick headscissors but an attempt at a second is countered into a reverse sitout powerbomb. The fans yell at Lodi as Kidman stops Juvy’s speed with shots to the back. Kidman reverse supelxes Guerrera onto the apron but Juvy comes back with a springboard missile dropkick to put Kidman on the floor. A rana takes Kidman off the apron and back to the floor but Juvy might have hurt his knee in the process.

The knee is fine enough to try a springboard legdrop but Juvy only hits canvas. Kidman goes to the middle rope but gets caught by a Frankensteiner for two. A nothern light suplex gets the same for Guerrera and the Juvy Driver looks to set up the 450. Juvy has to dropkick Lodi down instead though and Kidman hits a quick bulldog and the Shooting Star for the pin.

Rating: B-. That’s probably high but given how fast paced this was in the short amount of time it’s impossible to not be impressed. Kidman was great in the ring when he had someone who could go move for move with him and Juvy certainly fits that bill. For five minutes this was some high level stuff.

DDP is ready for Benoit and knows the fans are too.

Silver King/Villano IV/Villano V vs. Super Calo/Lizmark Jr./Chavo Guerrero Jr.

We start with Lizmark vs. Villano IV in a nice technical sequence until Lizmark hits a springboard missile dropkick to take over. The Villanos switch but Calo gets a blind tag and comes in with a kind of top rope Hart Attack for two. Back to IV but Calo sends him straight to the outside so it’s off to Chavo vs. Silver King. Chavo lands on his feet out of a monkey flip and dropkicks King down for two.

V comes back in with a DDT on Chavo but Guerrero rolls outside, allowing Calo to walk into a superkick from King. Everything breaks down and Lizmark hits a great dive to take out IV. Chavo hits the tornado DDT on Silver but Psychosis sneaks in and hits the guillotine legdrop on Chavo to give King the pin.

Rating: C. This was a slower version of the six man lucha formula and with far less time to develop. That being said, the dives were very good and Lizmark looked good out there. It’s also nice to see Chavo have his first feud start up as he’s too talented to be stuck in these random six man tags.

Video on Savage having problems with the NWO over the last few weeks.

Dusty comes to the announcers’ desk and throws out Lee Marshall. He yells at Tony and Bobby about how he’ll speak the truth. Heenan immediately starts sucking up to him.

Buff Bagwell/Konnan vs. Steiner Brothers

The NWO jumps the Brothers as they come in but get caught in belly to belly suplexes for their efforts. After a breather on the floor we start with Rick vs. Konnan but Konnan tags out before there’s any contact. Buff tags right back out and we have Konnan vs. Rick for real this time. Rick pounds away before we can get another tag and a powerslam gets two on Konnan. Buff breaks up the pin and Rick is in trouble.

Bagwell comes in legally for a DDT, drawing in Scott which allows the NWO to double team Rick. Buff sends him to the floor for a beating from Konnan and Vincent. I’ll give Vincent this: he was able to keep a job for a long time despite being nothing more than a low level enforcer. Back in and Buff’s splash hits Rick’s knees and it’s finally the hot tag to Scott. House is cleaned but Vincent and DiBiase get in a fight on the floor as Hall comes in, drawing a DQ win for the Steiners.

Rating: D+. Not much to see here but that’s becoming the norm for Steiner Brothers matches. At least Hall is getting involved in the story again though, meaning we could get the Steiners back to the title scene very soon. Seeing DiBiase and Vincent brawl always brings a nostalgic smile to my face as well.

Post match Scott Steiner doesn’t realize the match is over and loads up the Steiner Bulldog. Hall shoves Rick off the top into Scott and the Steiners are about to come to blows. Scott Steiner never saw Hall get involved and thinks Rick either screwed up or jumped him.

Raven vs. Marty Jannetty

Lee Marshall is back on commentary as Heenan explains that he was sucking up to Dusty to protect Tony and Lee. Raven comes through the entrance and sits down on the set instead of walking to the ring. Now he gets up and looks at his video as he walks towards the ring. Jannetty is tired of waiting and jumps Raven in the aisle with forearms to the back and a superkick. Lodi gets a superkick as well, pops back up so he can raise the sign and gets superkicked again.

They get in the ring as Tony rants about Dusty. Marty hits a dropkick for three straight two counts but Raven comes back with a clothesline to take over. Jannetty is sent back to the floor and Raven drops an elbow off the apron to keep Marty down. Raven throws Marty and a chair into the ring for the bulldog onto said chair.

Raven puts Marty in the Crippler Crossface while shouting BEWARE OF THE DDT. He lets the hold go and drives a knee into Marty’s face but a Vader Bomb onto a chair only hits steel. Raven gets crotched on the top rope and dropkicked out to the floor as Lodi is still out cold in the aisle. Marty sends Raven into the steps but back inside the Rocker Dropper is countered into the Even Flow for the pin.

Rating: C. Marty has been solid looking in his few matches in WCW which is all you can expect from him at this point. Raven continues to be bizarre in the ring and Heenan freaking out over the odd things that he does is always good for a laugh. This match was a way to set up Benoit vs. Raven II on Saturday Night which is a setup for a later match in its own right.

Video on Giant being injured at Souled Out.

Disco Inferno vs. Perry Saturn

These guys fought an awful lot. The announcers ignore the match to talk about Hogan paying Nash’s fines in the hopes that Nash will have his back at Super Brawl. They trade basic holds for control to start but Saturn takes it to the mat, sending Disco running to the floor. Back in and Disco takes over with an armbar before they seem to screw up a running the ropes sequence.

We take a break and come back with Saturn pounding on Disco in the corner. Saturn whips him across the ring and Disco seems ready to jump over Perry but there’s no one there. Saturn pounds him down some more and whips him into the corner again so Disco can try to jump over him, only to get crotched. Inferno comes back with a knee lift and swinging neckbreaker for two but he dives into a Tazplex for two. A Falcon’s Arrow puts Disco down but a guillotine legdrop misses.

Disco hits the Chartbuster (Stunner) but can’t immediately cover. After the referee counts both guys to eight, Disco puts an arm over but Kidman puts Saturn’s foot on the rope. Saturn superkicks him down for two but Disco counters a belly to back superplex into a cross body for two. Kidman shoves Saturn into Disco, knocking both guys out. Saturn is on Disco’s back though and puts on the Rings of Saturn for the submission.

Rating: C+. I’m liking this serious Disco Inferno. He’s like a lower level Terry Taylor: a guy who is only remembered for his gimmick, instead of how good he was in the ring. Saturn was in a fight here and it made for an entertaining match to continue a good trend tonight. Now can we please move these two apart for a very long time?

Post match Saturn won’t let go until Booker T makes the save.

Here’s Nick Patrick who says he’s ready for his second chance. He wants the fans to look at the tape from Starrcade and see that he did nothing wrong. He’ll be back on Nitro because JJ Dillon has no leg to stand on.

Raven rants about Benoit, Woman and TBS being too corporate.

Scott Hall vs. Jim Neidhart

Hall and Spicolli come out out for the Survey with WCW winning by a mile. He complains about not having the title shot at the PPV because of Piper and says that the Steiners can have a title shot on Nitro. As for Spicolli, tonight he gets to face Neidhart instead.

Jim Neidhart vs. Louie Spicolli

Neidhart destroys Louie as you would expect and knocks him out to the floor. Louie is catapulted back into the ring and Hall gets blasted in the face as well. Anvil puts the nerve hold on Spicolli but Hall comes in for the DQ. This barely lasted a minute.

Davey Boy Smith runs out for the save but Mongo comes out to go after him. Due to Mongo’s high levels of suck, Smith easily knocks him back to the floor.

US Title: Chris Benoit vs. Diamond Dallas Page

We take a break before the bell and come back with Tony saying the bell has sounded but no one has moved from the corners. The arena is full of smoke from Page’s entrance. They circle each other and have a very rough tieup before falling to the floor for another staredown. Back in and the champion takes Benoit down with a tilt-a-whirl side slam for no cover. A gutbuster puts Benoit down again and Page stomps away. Back up and Benoit snaps on the Crossface but Page is next to the ropes.

A belly to belly gets two on Benoit but he bails away from a Diamond Cutter attempt. They stare each other down for the third time before going face to face and slugging it out. Benoit gets in some forearms to the kidneys and Page is in trouble. Lee Marshall takes the time to tell us that the Crossface is a submission hold while the Cutter is a move to knock you out. Benoit hits a snap suplex for two and stomps on Page in the corner, only to have Page come back with right hands. Page hits a running tornado DDT out of nowhere to put both guys down but here’s the Flock to jump both guys for the double DQ.

Rating: C. This is one of those matches that had a big fight feel but they only had six minutes. The Raven run in sets up another match down the road between these two, likely at Super Brawl where they’ll have more time. It was nice to see Benoit treated as an equal with a big name and hopefully he gets to do this kind of thing more often.

Raven hits the Even Flow on Benoit but Page Diamond Cuts every other member of the Flock. Raven bails as Benoit and Page stare each other down to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. Thunder continues its roll with a solid string of matches tonight. The lack of big stars is very refreshing as the show can breathe for a minute and not subject us to a bunch of two minute nothing matches to fill time. Good show this week as Super Brawl is taking shape and should be a well built show.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of Starrcade from Amazon for just $4 at: