Thunder
Date:
October 1, 1998
Location:
The Scope, Norfolk, Virginia
Attendance:
8,858
Commentators:
Lee Marshall, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay
Reviewed by Tommy Hall
Back
to the weather show with the big story being Bret Hart turning on
Sting after their long friendship of two weeks. The Black and White
is reunited again as we very slowly make our way towards Halloween
Havoc and the EPIC rematch between Hogan and Warrior. Hopefully
Thunder continues its tradition of focusing on everything except that
match. Let's get to it.
The
announcers run down the main events, including Raven vs. Goldberg for
the World Title.
Diamond
Dallas Page vs. Lodi
Lodi
gets to talk before the match, saying that Page brought Saturn into
WCW and Saturn ruined Lodi's life, so Lodi is going to ruin Page's
life. “YOU'RE NEXT!” Page is fine with the threat and dives
over the top to take Lodi out as we get going. Back in and Lodi gets
a few cheap shots on Page followed by some choking, only to walk into
right hands and a discus lariat. Page calls for the Diamond Cutter
and we're done quick.
The
announcers tell us to stay tuned for Jerry Flynn and Mike Enos.
Seriously.
Jerry
Flynn vs. Mike Enos
Feeling
out process to start until Flynn gets in some of his kicks in the
corner to take over. The announcers talk about Hogan vs. Warrior in
one of the rare occasions where that's far more interesting. Enos
takes over with an enziguri and a hot shot sends Flynn to the floor.
We get a quick chase ending with Jerry dropping knees back inside as
this just keeps going. Enos catches a leapfrog in a powerslam in the
only nice move of the match and here's a drunk Scott Hall to
interrupt things. The match stops and I'll call it a no contest.
Rating:
D-. I really don't think this
needs an explanation.
Hall
beats up both guys and does the survey. He talks about all of the
bosses he has but Kevin Nash isn't one of them. They'll fight but
it's going to be on his terms.
Kanyon
vs. Scotty Riggs
Before
the match Kanyon says that he's the Innovator of Offense and no one
is going to prove him wrong, especially not Riggs. He calls Riggs a
pirate and wants to know where's his peg leg. Tony can be heard
covering a laugh. Kanyon tries to get Riggs to rejoin Raven but
gets punched in the face to get things going. Riggs hits his nice
dropkick for two and throws Kanyon out to the floor before ramming
his shoulder into the post.
Back
in and the arm goes around the post again but Riggs misses a charge
and hits the buckle. Kanyon comes back with a middle rope Fameasser
and a swinging neckbreaker for two of his own. The fireman's carry
into a pancake gets another near fall on Riggs but he counters
another Fameasser attempt into a powerbomb. Riggs drives him into
the corner but is sent face first into the buckle, setting up the
Flatliner to give Kanyon the pin.
Rating:
C. The same problems that
plagued Riggs over the years plagued him here: he has no character to
speak of and his offense looked like he's been in the ring six
months. He had a nice dropkick but there are a dozen people that can
make that move look good. There was never a reason to care about him
and this match didn't change things. Kanyon was his usual awesome
self.
Raven
talks about how there's no reason to get attached to anything because
everything goes away. Those are good words for Goldberg, because
tonight his world title is
going away.
Wrath
vs. Ciclope
Heenan
thinks Riggs and Ciclope are the same person in a funny bit. Total
dominance to start with Ciclope being thrown into the post and then
the corner, followed by kicks to the ribs and a belly to back suplex.
They head outside with Ciclope being thrown around like he's a rag
doll. Back in and Ciclope gets in a few headbutts but slips while
trying a missile dropkick. A running shoulder block sets up the
Meltdown to end the dominance.
Rating:
D+. Wrath is good in this role
and would make a nice one night challenger for Goldberg on a Nitro
with another big main event. It's also nice to see WCW mixing up
their jobbers like they do. That drives me crazy in WWE where they
have a huge roster but have the same handful of guys do all their
squash jobs.
The
creepy laughter is heard again.
Cruiserweight
Title: Billy Kidman vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.
The
bell rings and Chavo goes straight to the corner to pick up Pepe.
Back up and Chavo grabs a headlock followed by a shoulder but we need
more horse. The champion comes back with a nice flying headscissors
to send Chavo outside, setting up a pescado to the floor. The
announcers are actually into this and thankfully haven't mentioned
Hall squashing Kidman on Nitro. Back in and Chavo throws Kidman
right back to the floor before diving off the top with a cross body
for two inside.
Billy
elbows him in the face gets two off a dropkick but
gets kicked away and taken down by a top rope bulldog for two. We
hit the chinlock for a bit but Billy suplexes out of it and heads up,
only to get crotched as we go to a break.
Back with everyone in the same place (the joys of taped shows) and
it's Chavo dancing around with Pepe before we hit the chinlock again.
Kidman
fights up but misses a dropkick and gets caught in a camel clutch.
That goes nowhere as Kidman fights up and avoids a splash in the
corner, only to go up top and hit knees with a splash. Chavo puts
him back up top for a superplex for two but Kidman grabs a quick
short powerbomb and goes up for the Shooting Star to retain.
Rating:
C+. This was really good while
the action was going but they stopped for chinlocks and camel
clutches. Kidman is back on track after that annoying loss on Monday
where it was made clear that the cruiserweights are secondary to the
heavyweights. Chavo continues to show that he can wrestle well
instead of just being insane all the time.
Lenny
Lane vs. Van Hammer
Hammer
is a hippie now. Lane shoves him away and celebrates like he just
won the world title but Hammer shoves him down much harder. Another
shove puts Lenny down and it's off to a powerful armbar. Hammer runs
into a charge and gets rammed into the buckle for Lane's period of
false hope. Lenny spends too much time posing and gets taken up top
for a superplex, followed by an Alabama Slam to give Hammer the pin.
Rating:
D. The match was nothing to see
but I was a big Van Hammer fan when I was a kid so it's always cool
to see him. Lane was a funny guy but the fact that he looked so much
like Jericho didn't help him. Just a squash here but Van Hammer as a
hippie was only going to take him so far.
Raven
talks about crying looking like laughing and about how no one has
ever taken it to Goldberg like he or Saturn have.
Damien
vs. Disco Inferno
Disco
bails to the corner to start before getting caught in a headlock.
They run the ropes a bit before a crossbody sends Disco running
again. Disco charges into a boot but still rolls away from a top
rope splash. The neckbreaker and a bunch of stomps in the corner
have Damien in trouble and a middle rope ax handle gets two. Damien
makes a very quick comeback but charges into a boot as well, setting
up the piledriver to give Disco the pin.
Rating:
D+. Disco is likeable even as a
heel and that piledriver has looked great in the last few weeks.
Again, it's nice to see them mix up the jobbers and build up someone
like Disco so that a bigger midcarder can beat him later. The good
thing here though was they kept the match at about three and a half
minutes so he didn't wear out his welcome. Simple yet effective.
Konnan
vs. Stevie Ray
After
his LONG schtick, Konnan scores with an early rolling lariat and the
seated dropkick. Unfortunately the match doesn't end ten seconds
later as Stevie comes back with his heavy forearms and punches in the
corner. A clothesline puts Konnan down and we hit a quickly broken
chinlock. Ray hits a nice high knee and gets two off a slam as we're
just waiting on the screwy finish. Vincent gets in some choking but
Konnan is able to stop a charging Stevie with a boot (popular move
tonight). The X-Factor sets up the Sunrise but Vincent gets on the
apron, allowing Stevie to hit Konnan with the slapjack (object, not
move) for the DQ.
Rating:
D. Nothing to this one but
again they kept it short to take away some of the pain. It seems
like these guys have been fighting for months and as always the
question is where is this leading? There's no end game for the NWO
war and the matches just keep going and going without anything really
changing.
The
beatdown ensues until Nash makes the save. Hall comes out to the
stage but doesn't get past the aisle.
Video
on Hogan vs. Warrior. I'm fine with it being limited to one segment
per show.
WCW
World Title: Raven vs. Goldberg
DDP
comes out to do commentary. We get the long Buffer entrances to fill
in some time. The match is under Raven's Rules, which Buffer
describes as “No time limit, pinfalls or submissions, no DQ or
countouts.” Goldberg shoves him down to start as Page says he'd
rather face Goldbeg at Halloween Havoc. A
powerslam puts Raven down but Goldberg misses a running knee in the
corner and falls out to the floor.
Raven
rams him into the steps and puts Goldberg on a table, only to miss a
dive over the top and go through a table. Page: “He's like a big
cat. Like Ernest Ladd. Er Miller. What the heck was his name?”
Back in and the spear connects but it takes out the referee as well.
Kanyon comes in with a chair to knock Goldberg into the Even Flow but
Page will have none of that. He runs down and lays out Kanyon with
the Diamond Cutter as Goldberg gets up and Jackhammers Raven for the
win.
Rating:
C+. I liked this more than I
was expecting to. They actually made Goldberg seem a little bit
vulnerable here and Page saving him helped even more. Raven had no
chance of course but it was nice to see Goldberg have to break a
sweat to win for a change. For a Thunder main event that's more than
you would expect to get.
Goldberg
and Page growl at each other to end the show, I believe in their
first face to face encounter.
Overall
Rating: C+.
This is a tough one to grade as most of the matches weren't very good
but they were almost all short so the pain wasn't that bad. The two
title matches were both solid though and seeing Goldberg vs. Page get
some focus was a very nice change of pace. It never ceases to amaze
me how much easier WCW is to sit through when there's no Hogan
involved. Best Thunder in awhile.
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